Concept of Belonging in A Passage to India.

Humanism has been a crucial philosophical viewpoint in twentieth-century, with several literary artists making an attempt to uphold it in their writings. Humanism must have the concept of belonging to ensure that everyone deserve their right as human. “Much of what human beings do is done in the service of belongingness.” 

The concept of belonging use by writer can be seen through the ethnic, racial, cultural and religious. In A Passage to India, Forster portrays a group of characters from both races the English and Indian with two different kinds of perceptual characteristics in both cultures. A Passage to India is that the tale of two culturally distinct race the Western and for the Non-Eastern, begin in the town of Chandrapore, a representative town in the north of British India. Their living side by side as the colonizers and therefore the colonized drive them into conflicts and Foster’s depiction of that colonial conflict provides vent to his attitudes towards these two races Beginning with a crucial question whether or not a friendly relationship is feasible between the people of East and West, Forster spins a yam in order to express a kind of racial essentialism and superiority.

Through a simplistic analysis, Forster seems to be cynical of English characters, but the intensive perusal of the novel makes it clear that Forster’s English people are depicted as generally decent, civilized and leaving. On the other way, Forster make the reader imagine are all in one way which Indian are miserable creatures, dishonest and fawning.

Forster potray the concept of belonging of racial through the scene the first meeting between Mrs Moore and Aziz. When Aziz asked Mrs. Moore what is her name. Aziz can correctly guess that she just arrived in India and through her attitude to him. Mrs Moore attitude towards Aziz is polite not like other English people who treated Indians poorly. Likewise, in the other scene between Mrs Moore and Aziz, she said that she did not like Callandar, and Aziz told her that both Callandars treat him poorly. Mrs Moore listens all of that with sympathy and Aziz is pleased.

Furthermore, the second one is where Turton said that he did not socialized with Indians, however he arranged The Bridge Party which known a party that has gap between the Indians and Englishmen. Nawab Bahdur who is an Indian man invited by Mr Tutron just because of his status. In this scene, Ronny Heaslop also criticized how the Indians dress and remarks that most of them are ‘seditious’. At the party, Adela and Mrs Moore treat the Indian with respect and befriend with them, who appreciate the attention they received.  

E.M Forster use the concept of belonging in their work which is a Scandal in bohemia and A Passage to India. “The felling of safe and closure where they belong. The primary interest of belonging need is a psychological sense of being in a state of communion with others or a safe unit”. The concept of belonging means social acceptance throughout life. 

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