The Liberal Colonial: Adela

In E.M.Forster's "A Passage to India", several characters find it difficult to assimilate themselves into the nature and mannerisms of 'the colonizer' in their desire to experience India. Among them, Adela is the most susceptible to conforming to the colonial lifestyle and thus for me, she is the least liberal. In the beginning of the book, Adela expresses a keen interest in experiencing India and meeting the locals. The rest of the British sense her unconventionality, especially the women. Mrs.Turton realizes that she isn't "pukka" (25) and Mrs. Lesley is both shocked and amused to hear that Adela wants to see Indians (23). Adela, herself, realizes that she is quite different from the rest of the British and says to herself, "I should never get like that." She is even aware that that she has come up against something "insidious and tough" (43). However, Adela's commitment to separating herself from the dominant colonial behavior seems shaky and a little misplaced. It is quite difficult for me to imagine her as the liberal colonial because her reasons for experiencing India are quite self-serving. She is a young girl who has come to India to gather and accumulate experiences. She tells Mrs. Moore on the train, "We can't be far from the place where my hyena was." She takes ownership of the hyena and the accident that she was a part of. It is her experience and now she owns it; a little part of India. If the experiences aren't rich enough, she exaggerates her enthusiasm. Looking at the sunrise she says, "I'd not have missed this for anything... We should never have seen it if we'd stuck to the Turtons and their eternal elephants (128). When the sunset fails to amuse her ("It was as if virtue had failed in the celestial fount"), she makes excuses for it's banality ("... must be a false dawn...") and reveres England's ability to produce great sunrises ("... remember Grasmere?"). Therefore, I feel that she doesn't appreciate India for what it is. In fact, her appreciation lasts only till India can give her something to consume. Her liberality stems only from her naivety and youthful nature, both of which are susceptible to change. She seeks to surround herself with people who would keep her the way she is. She lists these people as if they are objects that can shield her from the traditional colonial lifestyle. The fact that she can't even pronounce the name of one those people shows how little they really mean to her. Therefore, Adela's liberality is not very extensive and even she is immersed in colonial dyes.