A Passage to India

Aziz leaves the palace and walks home. On the way, he meets Godbole, who tells him that someone has arrived at the nearby European Guest House. Both know that Godbole is referring to Fielding, whom Aziz has been anxious not to speak to in the two years since they last saw each other in Chandrapore. Aziz heard of Fielding’s marriage to Adela through a letter that Mahmoud Ali read to him; Fielding is in India on official business surveying the education system in place in India’s remoter regions.

Aziz reflects on his newfound friendship with Godbole and his residence in Mau. He officially works under a Hindu doctor and has abandoned many of the Western medical teachings he once used, preferring to run “his little hospital at half steam, and caused no alarm” (328). Living and working at Mau allows Aziz to be outside the direct influence of the British. He has since married again and pursues poetry, focusing his writing to the subject of the purdah and “Oriental womanhood” (329).

Though Mau is remote, Aziz is nevertheless watched by the British. A Colonel Maggs keeps account of Aziz’s daily life; since the trial, the British believe that Aziz must be kept under observation. Once home, Aziz finds a note from Fielding announcing his arrival at the European Guest House with his wife and brother-in-law. Fielding’s note is friendly and asks Aziz how to find boats with which to row out on and watch the Hindu’s torchlight procession. 

The next morning, Aziz takes his three children on a tour of the religious and stately buildings in Mau. First, they visit the shrine of a Muslim saint that once came to Mau with the object of purification. Then they visit the mosque and the deserted fort to admire the view from its vantage point. As it is monsoon season, rain Aziz and his children enjoy “the sky grey and black, bellyfuls of rain all over it, the earth pocked with pools of water and slimy with mud” (333). At the fort, they encounter a line of prisoners. During the rituals that evening, one of the prisoners would be selected by the Rajah and pardoned.

Aziz keeps up an illusion of the Rajah’s health for the sake of the Hindu holiday, when in fact the Rajah had died the previous night.

Fielding and another man are spotted approaching the fort. They are attacked by bees, which sting the young man Fielding is with, just as a downpour begins. Aziz approaches the men, suddenly in a good mood from their misfortune. Fielding asks why Aziz has answered none of his letters and complains that he and his guests have largely been ignored in Mau since they arrived.

Fielding leads them down to his carriage, where he and the young man get in. Aziz discovers that the young man is not Adela’s brother as he suspected but Ralph Moore. Fielding married Mrs. Moore’s daughter Stella Moore. Aziz is confused and admits that Mahmoud Ali must have intentionally deceived him yet feels no animosity for his friend as Mahmoud Ali must have done it with Aziz’s best intentions in mind.

Aziz leaves them at the carriage abruptly, confused both by the revelation that Fielding didn’t betray him and the return of Mrs. Moore’s name into his life. He believes that Mrs. Moore’s spirit seems to be coming to help him.

As the torchlight Hindu procession begins, Aziz brings an ointment for bee stings to the European guest house. Crowds gather in anticipation of the night’s celebration; Aziz spots Godbole and tells him about the mistake about Fielding’s wife; Godbole responds that he already knew. Watching the procession brings his own religion to Aziz’s mind and the legends of Emperor Babur. In the Mau tank, Aziz spots a small boat and surmises that Fielding managed to find a boat for himself and his guests to watch the Hindu rituals.

Aziz enters the European guest house and goes through Fielding’s things. He reads a letter from Ronny that is full of Ronny’s characteristic pomposity, racism, and support for colonialism. In a letter from Adela to Mrs. Fielding, Adela writes that she has left many regrets and unpaid debts in India, which Aziz does not understand. By reading the letters he gleans that “these five people were making up their little difficulties, and closing their broken ranks against the alien” (346).

Ralph Moore enters the room, having stayed behind to recover from his bee stings. At first, Aziz sees an opportunity for vengeance and treats the young man poorly. Ralph is intuitive and outspoken, though, and claims that Aziz is being unnecessarily cruel to someone who had no part in Aziz’s trauma. With fireworks going off outside, Aziz and Ralph go out onto the porch to watch what they can of the procession. Aziz is struck by the beauty and spirituality before him; he softens towards Ralph and they shake hands. He remarks that Ralph’s emotional intuition makes him an “Oriental,” like his mother.

Ralph says that Mrs. Moore wrote to him and said how much she loved her friend Aziz, who is deeply moved by this statement: “She had not borne witness in his favor, nor visited him in the prison, yet she had stolen to the depths of his heart, and he always adored her” (350). Aziz proposes taking Ralph out on a boat to watch the Hindu procession.

On the water, the confusion on land combined with fireworks and singing causes two boats to collide into each other. Capsized, the three English men and Aziz tread water as the Hindu procession moves back to the town. 

Aziz and Fielding resume their friendship but for a limited time. They ride through the Mau jungles enjoying each other’s company for what they both know to be the last time. Fielding is now devoted to his job in education as he has a family to support. Aziz gives Fielding a letter to carry on to Adela; in the letter, Aziz thanks Adela for her courage to speak honestly at the trial.

Fielding admits that he and his wife were not particularly close before coming to India, but that the journey has instigated a new and deeper intimacy between them. Still, the marriage is not a completely happy one for Fielding: “He had thrown in his lot with Anglo-India by marrying a countrywoman, and he was acquiring some of its limitations, and already felt surprised at his own past heroism” (358). Fielding expresses his continued surprise that both Stella and Ralph, as well as their mother, seem to show such a great affinity for Hinduism and the spiritual nature of India.