A Passage to India · Chapter
Chapter II explained
Aziz, Hamidullah, and Mahmoud Ali discuss the English in India, recalling exceptions like Mrs.
What happens
Aziz, Hamidullah, and Mahmoud Ali discuss the English in India, recalling exceptions like Mrs. Bannister and Queen Victoria, but generalizing about Englishwomen's haughtiness. Aziz later visits Hamidullah's wife, then goes to the mosque where he meets Mrs. Moore, an elderly Englishwoman. They have a warm conversation, discovering they both have two sons and a daughter. Aziz vents about his mistreatment by the Callendars, and Mrs. Moore sympathizes, leading Aziz to feel a deep connection.
Themes in this chapter
Friendship Across Cultures
Aziz and Mrs. Moore form an unexpected bond at the mosque, sharing personal details and mutual understanding despite their cultural differences.
Misunderstanding and Communication
The conversation among the Indian men generalizes about Englishwomen, while Aziz's interaction with Mrs. Moore shows genuine communication bridging the racial divide.
Colonialism and Imperialism
The chapter highlights the power imbalance of colonialism, with Aziz being treated as a subordinate by Major Callendar and excluded from the club, while the English assert dominance.
Characters to notice
- Dr. Aziz
Aziz joins the conversation about the English, visits Hamidullah's wife, then goes to the mosque where he meets Mrs. Moore and shares his grievances about the Callendars.
- Hamidullah
Hamidullah hosts the discussion about the English and later takes Aziz to see his wife behind the purdah.
- Mahmoud Ali
Mahmoud Ali participates in the conversation about the English, veering between criticism and recalling kindnesses.
- Mrs. Moore
Mrs. Moore meets Aziz at the mosque, reveals she is the mother of the City Magistrate Ronny Heaslop, and sympathizes with Aziz's complaints about the English.
- Hamidullah Begum
Hamidullah Begum, Aziz's distant aunt, speaks with him about a family circumcision and pressures him about marriage.
Key passages
“take my case—the case of young Hugh Bannister. Here is the son of my dear, my dead friends, the Reverend and Mrs. Bannister, whose goodness to me in England I shall never forget or describe.”
Hamidullah uses the example of Hugh Bannister, the son of his deceased English friends who were kind to him in England, to illustrate the difficulty of maintaining cross-cultural friendships in India.
Hamidullah laments that Hugh will likely be influenced by other Anglo-Indians and distrust him.
“I learn now that this boy is in business as a leather merchant at Cawnpore. Imagine how I long to see him and to pay his fare that this house may be his home. But it is useless. The other Anglo-Indians will have got hold of him long ago.”
Hamidullah wishes to reconnect with Hugh Bannister, now a leather merchant, but fears that other British residents have already turned him against Indians.
This reflects the social barriers imposed by the British community in India.
“You understand me, you know what others feel. Oh, if others resembled you!”
Aziz tells Mrs. Moore that she understands him and wishes more people were like her.
Aziz feels a deep emotional connection with Mrs. Moore due to her sympathy.