Discuss Forster's presentation of religion in "A Passage to India".

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Lisa Bishop

Discuss Forster’s presentation of religion in “A Passage to India”.

“A Passage to India” is a novel in which the theme of religion is very prominent, and throughout the novel the narrator discusses a number of different religions, from those of Islam and Hinduism, to Christianity, as well as the concept of spiritualism. This is evident in the three part structure of the novel: in “Mosque” the narrator focuses on Islam, in “Caves” he focuses on spirituality and in “Temple” he focuses on Hinduism.

        Religion is one of many areas in which the Indian and British differ, not only with regards to their beliefs, but also with regards to the importance each attaches to the concept. The fact that Christianity, though clearly an important religion, does not have a chapter “assigned” to it is likely to be a reflection of the fact that the strength of British feeling towards their religion is not as strong as the feelings of other cultures towards theirs.

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        Unlike the Muslims and the Hindus, the majority of the Christian characters in the novel do not abide by many of the beliefs and actions they would be expected to. For example, the Christian Bible states “love thy neighbour as thyself” - clearly something which most of the British do not do, not only with regards to the Indians, which is very evident throughout the entire novel, but also, in some cases, with regards to people of their own race, which is best illustrated by Mrs Turton’s remarks that Fielding and Adela are not “pukka”.

        To many of the British, ...

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