Formlessness for Rejuvenation

What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow

Out of this tony rubbish? Son of man,

You cannot say, or guess, for you know only

A heap of broken images, where the sun beats,

And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief,

And the dry stone no sound of water. Only

There is shadow under this red rock,

T.S.Elliot – The Burial of The Dead

Around the time Forster’s “A Passage To India” came to be, British Imperialism in India had been exposed to the formlessness of Indian fundamentalism and existence. Many of the questions pertaining to human identity, sense of belonging, homoerotism and relationships were bashed out in open and many of the British identities lay open under the Indian sky, looking for the answers. Through his four main characters, Adela Quested, Mrs. Moore, Aziz and Fielding, Forster has highlighted the European ailment and the reader finds repeated references to the perfection of India in its seemingly formlessness, quoting it to be the only cure for European rejuvenation. The strategic employment of India’s geography and its persistent description evident throughout the novel emphasize the influence of the country on the author.

The role of nature, specifically, the sky and the Marabar caves, plays an important part in portraying the feelings of exile of the author and his characters. The Indian sky, save from the adulteration of the World Wars, serves as a unifying, constant background of the spontaneous tale of clashing identities and sexualities while also portraying the deep mysticism and religiosity of its form. It proves to be the representative of the Indian tradition that stays firm in the face of the growing Imperialism, while seeking its strength and power from its culture and religion. Besides the shattering of Indian fundamentalism at the arrival of the British, the nation possessed the power to fight it back together and to rejuvenate from its state of dry stone and dead tree. This might is reflected in the characteristic description of the sky, which serves as symbolism for the Indian culture:

The  sky can do this because it is so strong and so enormous. Strength comes from the sun, infused in it daily, size from the prostrate Earth. No mountains infringe on the curve

Marabar caves, on the other hand, serve to highlight the stagnant point of a civilization, a point where the existence of individualistic ideas and reformation seems negligible. Furthermore, it also portrays the egoistic nature of the nation which is not ready to become subservient to any foreign rule. This is evident from Foster’s narration of Mrs Moore’s experience inside of the echo effects of the caves.  No matter what sound is made, the same dignified roar of “ou-boum” comes back, highlighting the halting of a historical era (the legacy of Buddhist monks of third century BC) or may be the symbolism for the egoistic nature of the present civilization. Besides, it also serves as an anticlimax of the novel by depicting the thoughts that go through Mrs. Moore’s head regarding religion and the existence of God, considering that these very two things are the basis of the country that she intends to make her home and not feel an exile in.

Therefore, through the strategic use of nature, Forster has very delicately built a picture of India that is a dream of the Imperialists at some level and an ideal consequence of European Rejuvenation they intend to have.