English Literature books summary

stereotype, his wealth his obtained through thievery. Furthermore, Fagin's

psychological warfare on Oliver's basically virtuous nature reflects the

anti-Semitic stereotype of Jews as conniving, cunning conspirators. Dickens

characterizes Fagin's manipulation of Oliver as a slow poison meant to

corrupt Oliver's sense of right and wrong. Unlike an ordinary villain, the

Jewish villain is far worse. He presents a face of kindness over his true

nature as twisted brain-washer. When Oliver sees Fagin and Monks staring at

him through Mrs. Maylie's window, he cries, "The Jew! The Jew!" He does not

shout Fagin's name, so he does not consider Fagin's villainy as an

individual quality particular to Fagin. He names it as a Jewish quality.

Clearly, Dickens does not portray Fagin as a villain who happens to be

Jewish. He portrays Fagin as a villain because he's Jewish. The continual

habit of referring to Fagin as "the Jew" makes him an abstraction of anti-

Semitic stereotypes, not an individual.

The Victorian middle class's stereotypes of the poor.

Throughout Oliver Twist, Dickens levels a strident criticism at the

Victorian middle class's representation of the poor as hereditary

criminals. Dickens goes to great lengths to criticize the attitude that the

poor are inherently immoral from birth. However, he portrays Monks in the

very same light.

Brownlow tells Monks, "You . . . from your cradle were gall and

bitterness to your own father's heart, and . . . all evil passions, vice,

and profligacy, festered [in you]." Basically, Monks was a b ad one from

the cradle. Why should the unfortunate child of an unhappy, forced marriage

be the very paragon of evil?

A Passage to India by E.M.Forster

Part One: Mosque

Chapter One:

Forster begins A Passage to India with a short description of

Chandrapore, a city along that Ganges that is not notable except for the

nearby Marabar caves. Chandrapore is a city of gardens with few fine houses

from the imperial period of Upper India; it is primarily a "forest sparsely

scattered with huts."

Chapter Two:

Dr. Aziz arrives by bicycle at the house of Hamidullah, where

Hamidullah and Mr. Mahmoud Ali are smoking hookah and arguing about whether

it is possible to be friends with an Englishman. Hamidullah, educated at

Cambridge, claims that it is possibly only in England, and the three gossip

about English elites in India. Hamidullah Begum, a distant aunt of Aziz,

asks him when he will be married, but he responds that once is enough. A

servant arrives, bearing a note from the Civil Surgeon; Callendar wishes to

see Aziz at his bungalow about a medical case. Aziz leaves, traveling down

the various streets named after victorious English generals, to reach Major

Callendar's compound. The servant at the compound snubs Aziz, telling him

the major has no message. Two English ladies, Mrs. Callendar and Mrs.

Lesley, take Aziz's tonga (carriage), thinking that his ride is their own.

Aziz then leaves to go to the nearly mosque paved with broken slabs. The

Islamic temple awakens Aziz's sense of beauty; for Aziz, Islam is more than

a mere Faith, but an attitude towards life. Suddenly, an elderly

Englishwoman arrives at the mosque. He reprimands her, telling her that she

has no right to be there and that she should have taken off her shoes, but

she tells him that she did remember to take them off. Aziz then apologizes

for assuming that she would have forgotten. She introduces herself as Mrs.

Moore, and tells Aziz that she is newly arrived in India and has come from

the club. He warns her about walking alone at night, because of poisonous

snakes and insects. Mrs. Moore is visiting her son, Mr. Heaslop, who is the

City Magistrate. They find that they have much in common: both were married

twice and have two sons and a daughter. He escorts Mrs. Moore back to the

club, but tells her that Indians are not allowed into the Chandrapore Club,

even as guests.

Chapter Three:

Mrs. Moore returns to the Chandrapore Club, where she meets Adela

Quested, her companion from England who may marry her son Ronny Heaslop;

Adela wishes to see "the real India." She complains that they have seen

nothing of India, but rather a replica of England. After the play at the

Club ends, the orchestra plays the anthem of the Army of Occupation, a

reminder of every club member that he or she is a British in exile.

Fielding, the schoolmaster of Government College, suggests that if they

want to see India they should actually see Indians. Mrs. Callendar says

that the kindest thing one can do to a native is to let him die. The

Collector suggests that they have a Bridge Party (a party to bridge the

gulf between east and west). When Mrs. Moore tells Ronny about her trip to

the mosque, he scolds her for speaking to a Mohammedan and suspects the

worst, but Mrs. Moore defends Dr. Aziz. Ronny worries that Aziz does not

tolerate the English (the "brutal conqueror, the sun-dried bureaucrat" as

he describes them). When she tells him that Aziz dislikes the Callendars,

Ronny decides that he must pass that information on to them and tells her

that Aziz abused them in order to impress her. When she tells Ronny that he

never judged people in this way at home, Ronny rudely replies that India is

not home. Finally Ronny agrees not to say anything to Major Callendar.

Chapter Four:

Mr. Turton, the Collector, issues invitations to numerous Indian

gentlemen in the neighborhood for the Bridge Party. While he argues with

Mr. Ram Chand and the elderly and distinguished Nawab Bahadur, Mahmoud Ali

claims that the Bridge Party is due to actions from the Lieutenant

Governor, for Turton would never do this unless compelled. The Nawab

Bahadur is a large proprietor and philanthropist; his decision to attend

the Bridge party carries great weight. Mr. Graysford and Mr. Sorley, the

missionaries who live nearby, argue that no one should be turned away by

God, but cannot decide whether divine hospitality should end at monkeys or

jackals or wasps or even bacteria. They conclude that someone must be

excluded or they shall be left with nothing.

Chapter Five:

Neither Mrs. Moore nor Adela Quested consider the Bridge Party to be a

success. The Indians for the most part adopt European costume, and the

conversations are uncomfortable. Mrs. Moore speaks to Mrs. Bhattacharya and

asks if she may call on her some day, but becomes distressed when she

believes that Mrs. Bhattacharya will postpone a trip to Calcutta for her.

During the party, Mr. Turton and Mr. Fielding are the only officials who

behave well toward the Indian guests. Mr. Fielding comes to respect Mrs.

Moore and Adela. Mr. Fielding suggests that Adela meet Dr. Aziz. Ronny and

Mrs. Moore discuss his behavior in India, and he tells her that he is not

there to be pleasant, for he has more important things to do there. Mrs.

Moore believes that Ronny reminds her of his public school days when he

talked like an intelligent and embittered boy. Mrs. Moore reminds him that

God put us on earth to love our neighbors, even in India. She feels it is a

mistake to mention God, but as she has aged she found him increasingly

difficult to avoid.

Chapter Six:

Aziz did not go to the Bridge Party, but instead he dealt with several

surgical cases. It was the anniversary of his wife's death; they married

before they had met and he did not love her at first, but that changed

after the birth of their first child. He feels that he will never get over

the death of his first wife. Dr. Panna Lal returns from the Bridge Party to

see Aziz and offers a paltry excuse for why he did not attend. Aziz worries

that he offended the Collector by absenting himself from the party. When

Aziz returns home he finds an invitation from Mr. Fielding to tea, which

revives his spirits.

Chapter Seven:

Mr. Fielding arrived in India late in his life, when he had already

passed forty, and was by that time a hard-bitten, good-tempered fellow with

a great enthusiasm for education. He has no racial feelings, because he had

matured in a different atmosphere where the herd instinct did not flourish.

The wives of the English officers dislike Fielding for his liberal racial

views, and Fielding discovers that it is possible to keep company with both

Indians and Englishmen, but to keep company with English women he must drop

Indians. Aziz arrives at Fielding's house for tea as Fielding is dressing

after a bath; since Fielding cannot see him, Aziz makes Fielding guess what

he looks like. Aziz offers Fielding his collar stud, for he has lost his.

When Fielding asks why people wear collars at all, Aziz responds that he

wears them to pass the Police, who take little notice of Indians in English

dress. Fielding tells Aziz that they will meet with Mrs. Moore and Adela,

as well as Professor Narayan Godbole, the Deccani Brahman. Mrs. Moore tells

Mr. Fielding that Mrs. Bhattacharya was to send a carriage for her this

morning, but did not, and worries that she offended her. Fielding, Aziz,

Mrs. Moore and Adela discuss mysteries. Mrs. Moore claims she likes

mysteries but hates muddles, but Mr. Fielding claims that a mystery is a

muddle, and that India itself is a muddle. Godbole arrives, a polite and

enigmatic yet eloquent man, elderly and wizened. His whole appearance

suggests harmony, as if he has reconciled the products of East and West,

mental as well as physical. They discuss how one can get mangoes in England

now, and Fielding remarks that India can be made in England just as England

is now made in India. They discuss the Marabar Caves, and Fielding takes

Mrs. Moore to see the college. Ronny arrives, annoyed to see Adela with

Aziz and Godbole. Ronny tells Fielding that he doesn't like to see an

English girl left smoking with two Indians, but he reminds him that Adela

made the decision herself.

Chapter Eight:

For Adela, Ronny's self-complacency and lack of subtlety grow more

vivid in India than in England. Adela tells Ronny that Fielding, Aziz and

Godbole are planning a picnic at the Marabar Caves for her and Mrs. Moore.

Ronny mocks Aziz for missing his collar stud, claiming that it is typical

of the Indian inattention to detail. Adela decides that she will not marry

Ronny, who is hurt by the news but tells her that they were never bound to

marry in the first place. She feels ashamed at his decency, and they decide

that they shall remain friends. Ronny suggests a car trip to see

Chandrapore, and the Nawab Bahadur offers to take them. There is a slight

accident, as the car swerves into a tree near an embankment. Adela thinks

that they ran into an animal, perhaps a hyena or a buffalo. When Miss Derek

finds them, she offers to drive all of them back into town except for Mr.

Harris, the Eurasian chauffeur. The Nawab Bahadur scolds Miss Derek for her

behavior. Adela tells Ronny that she takes back what she told him about

marriage. Ronny apologizes to his mother for his behavior at Mr. Fielding's

house. Mrs. Moore is now tired of India and wishes only for her passage

back to England. Ronny reminds her that she has dealt with three sets of

Indians today, and all three have let her down, but Mrs. Moore claims that

she likes Aziz. The Nawab Bahadur thinks that the accident was caused by a

ghost, for several years before he was in a car accident in which he killed

a drunken man.

Chapter Nine:

Aziz falls ill with fever, and Hamidullah discusses his illness with

Syed Mohammed, the assistant engineer, and Mr. Haq, a police inspector.

Rafi, the engineer's nephew, suggests that something suspicious occurred,

for Godbole also fell sick after Fielding's party, but Hamidullah dismisses

the idea. Mr. Fielding visits Aziz. They discuss Indian education, and Aziz

asks if it is fair that an Englishman holds a teaching position when

qualified Indians are available. Fielding cannot answer "England holds

India for her own good," the only answer to a conversation of this type.

Fielding instead says that he is delighted to be in India, and that is his

only excuse for working there. He suggests chucking out any Englishman who

does not appreciate being in India.

Chapter Ten:

Opposite Aziz's bungalow stands a large unfinished house belonging to

two brothers. A squirrel hangs on it, seeming to be the only occupant of

the house. More noises come from nearby animals. These animals make up the

majority of the living creatures of India, yet do not care how India is

governed.

Chapter Eleven:

Aziz shows Fielding a picture of his wife, a custom uncommon in

Islamic tradition. Aziz tells him that he believes in the purdah, but would

have told his wife that Fielding is his brother and thus she would have

seen him, just as Hamidullah and a small number of others had. Fielding

wonders what kindness he offered to Aziz to have such kindness offered back

to him. Aziz asks Fielding if he has any children, which he does not, and

asks why he does not marry Miss Quested. He claims that she is a prig, a

pathetic product of Western education who prattles on as if she were at a

lecture. He tells him that Adela is engaged to the City Magistrate. Aziz

then makes a derogatory comment about Miss Quested's small breasts. Aziz

discovers that Fielding was warm-hearted and unconventional, but not wise,

yet they are friends and brothers.

Part Two: Caves

Chapter Twelve:

This chapter is devoted solely to a description of the Marabar Caves.

Each of the caves include a tunnel about eight feet long, five feet high,

three feet wide that leads to a circular chamber about twenty feet in

diameter. Having seen one cave, one has essentially seen all of them. A

visitor who sees them returns to Chandrapore uncertain whether he has had

an interesting experience, a dull one, or even an experience at all. In one

of the caves there is rumored to be a boulder that swings on the summit of

the highest of the hills; this boulder sits on a pedestal known as the Kawa

Dol.

Chapter Thirteen:

Adela Quested mentions the trip to the Marabar Caves to Miss Derek,

but she mentions that she is unsure whether the trip will occur because

Indians seem forgetful. A servant overhears them, and passes on the

information to Mahmoud Ali. Aziz therefore decides to push the matter

through, securing Fielding and Godbole for the trip and asking Fielding to

approach Miss Quested and Mrs. Moore. Aziz considers all aspects of the

trip, including food and alcohol, and worries about the cultural

differences. Mrs. Moore and Adela travel to the caves in a purdah carriage.

Aziz finds that Antony, the servant that the women are bringing, is not to

be trusted, so he suggests that he is unnecessary, but Antony insists that

Ronny wants him to go. Mohammed Latif bribes Antony not to go on the trip

with them. Ten minutes before the train is to leave, Fielding and Godbole

are not yet at the station. The train starts just as Fielding and Godbole

arrive; Godbole had miscalculated the length of his morning prayer. When

the two men miss the train, Aziz blames himself. Aziz feels that this trip

is a chance for him to demonstrate that Indians are capable of

responsibility.

Chapter Fourteen:

For the past two weeks in which they had been in India, Mrs. Moore and

Miss Quested had felt nothing, living inside cocoons; Mrs. Moore accepts

her apathy, but Adela resents hers. It is Adela's faith that the whole

stream of events is important and interesting, and if she grows bored she

blames herself severely. This is her only major insincerity. Mrs. Moore

feels increasingly that people are important, but relationships between

them are not and that in particular too much fuss has been made over

marriage. The train reaches its destination and they ride elephants to

reach the caves. None of the guests particularly want to see the caves.

Aziz overrates hospitality, mistaking it for intimacy and not seeing that

it is tainted with a sense of possession. It is only when Mrs. Moore and

Fielding are near that he knows that it is more blessed to receive than to

give. Miss Quested admits that it is inevitable that she will become an

Anglo-Indian, but Aziz protests. She hopes that she will not become like

Mrs. Turton and Mrs. Callendar, but admits that she does not have a special

force of character to stop that tendency. In one of the caves there is a

distinct echo, which alarms Mrs. Moore, who decides she must leave the

cave. Aziz appreciates the frankness with which Mrs. Moore treats him. Mrs.

Moore begins to write a letter to her son and daughter, but cannot because

she remains disturbed and frightened by the echo in the cave. She is

terrified because the universe no longer offers repose to her soul. She has

lost all interest, even in Aziz, and the affectionate and sincere words

that she had spoken seem foreign to her.

Chapter Fifteen:

Adela and Aziz and a guide continue along the tedious expedition. They

encounter several isolated caves which the guide persuades them to visit,

but there is really nothing for them to see. Aziz has little to say to Miss

Quested, for he likes her less than he does Mrs. Moore and greatly dislikes

that she is marrying a British official, while Adela has little to say to

Aziz. Adela realizes that she does not love Ronny, but is not sure whether

that is reason enough to break off her engagement. She asks Aziz if he is

married, and he tells her that he is, feeling that it is more artistic to

have his wife alive for a moment. She asks him if he has one wife or more

than one, a question which shocks him very much, but Adela is unaware that

she had said the wrong thing.

Chapter Sixteen:

Aziz waits in the cave, smoking, and when he returns he finds the

guide alone with his head on one side. The guide does not know exactly

which cave Miss Quested entered, and Aziz worries that she is lost. On his

way down the path to the car that had arrived from Chandrapore, Aziz finds

Miss Quested's field glasses lying at the verge of a cave and puts them in

his pocket. He sees Fielding, who arrived in Miss Derek's car, but neither

he nor anyone else knows where Adela has gone. The expedition ends, and the

train arrives to bring them back into Chandrapore. As they arrive in town,

Mr. Haq arrests Dr. Aziz, but he is under instructions not to say the

charge. Aziz refuses to go, but Fielding talks him into cooperating. Mr.

Turton leads Fielding off so that Aziz goes to prison alone.

Chapter Seventeen:

Fielding speaks to the Collector, who tells him that Miss Quested has

been insulted in one of the Marabar Caves and that he would not allow

Fielding to accompany Aziz to preserve him from scandal. Fielding thinks

that Adela is mad, a remark that Mr. Turton demands that he withdraw.

Fielding explains that he cannot believe that Aziz is guilty. Mr. Turton

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