Indians. This Indian couple does not mind to rearrange their schedule to Calcuta so that Mrs. Moore and Miss Quested still can visit them at home. 44
B. The Social Contacts between the English and the Indians during British Colonialism in India
After we discuss the perspectives of both the English and the Indians on the first part, now the writer discusses the social contacts that happen between the
English and the Indians during British colonialism in India that Forster mentions in his novel. The writer analyzes these social contacts based on the Social
Contacts Theories, explained on the previous chapter. 1.
The Social Contacts Based on the Stimulus to Make a Contact between the English and the Indians during British Colonialism in India
In the novel, social contacts which are based on the stimulus to make a contact often occur when two or more characters the English and the Indians
meet each other. These are social contacts based on the stimulus that occur in the novel:
a. Physical Touch
In some occasions, Forster illustrates the physical touch between the English and the Indians. One of them is seen in the Bridge Party when Mrs.
Turton as the hostess suddenly comes close to the group of the Indian ladies and shakes hands with them, ‘Advancing, she shook hands with the group and said a
few words of welcome in Urdu.’ 42 Another is when Aziz comes to Mr. Fielding’s house to fulfill the invitation to have tea with Mrs. Moore and Miss
Adela Quested. He comes before those ladies and after finished with the
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Principal’s collar-stud problem both Aziz and Fielding finally can shake hands and smile to each other, ‘’Many thanks.’ They shook hands, smiling.’ 64
b. Sensory Impressions
Some expressions of sensory impressions also occur in this novel, for example when Aziz firstly sees Mrs. Moore from a distance in the mosque and he
thinks that the lady does not take her shoes off. Aziz is so furious and shouted: ‘Madam Madam Madam’
‘Oh Oh’ the woman gasped. ‘Madam, this is a mosque, you have no right here at all; you should
have taken off your shoes; this is a holy place for Moslems.’ 21 Mrs. Bhattacharya and Mrs. Das smile to Mrs. Turton, Mrs. Moore, and
Miss Quested when they are introduced by Mr. Bhattacharya at the Bridge Party, ‘The shorter and the taller ladies both adjusted their saris, and smiled.’ 42
2. The Social Contacts Based on the Type of the Contacts between the English
and the Indians during British Colonialism in India Based on the perspectives from the English and the Indians which we have
discussed on the previous part, we can see that both sides, the English and the Indians, have positive and negative perspectives to each other. Each perspective
that grows between them gives an impact to the social contacts they make. a.
Positive Social Contacts Learning of his mistake that not all English ladies treat Indians and things
connected to them inappropriately, Aziz suddenly changes his attitude and paradigm toward Mrs. Moore. It is out of his expectation that an English lady will
give respect to his religion by taking off her shoes at the mosque, and from this moment his anger is slowly redeemed by Mrs. Moore’s hospitality and the
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changing of her voice. ‘Mrs. Moore, I am afraid I startled you. I shall tell my community – our friends – about you. That God is here – very good, very fine
indeed. I think you are newly arrived in India.’ 22 Mrs. Turton, although disliking Indians, surprisingly she shakes hands to
the Indian ladies at the Bridge Party. Her action indicates a positive beginning of social contact though she does her action for politeness of the hostess, not by her
heart. ‘Why they come at all I don’t know. They hate it as much as we
do. Talk to Mrs. McBryde. Her husband made her give purdah parties until she struck.’
‘This isn’t a purdah party,’ corrected Miss Quested. ‘Oh, really,’ was the haughty rejoinder.
‘Do kindly tell us who these ladies are,’ asked Mrs. Moore ‘You’re superior to them, anyway. Don’t forget that. You’re
superior to everyone in India except one or two of the Ranis, and they’re on an equality.’
Advancing, she shook hands with the group and said a few words of welcome in Urdu. . . . ‘42
Besides Aziz, Mrs. Moore also makes a positive contact by initiating an appointment with Mrs. Bhattacharya. She and Miss Quested are really excited to
make an appointment with an Indian family, unlike their relatives of Englishwomen.
When they took their leave, Mrs. Moore had an impulse, and said to Mrs. Bhattacharya, whose face she liked, ‘I wonder whether you
would allow us to call on you some day.’ ‘When?’ she replied, inclining charmingly.
‘Whenever is convenient.’ ‘All days are convenient.’
‘Thursday …’ ‘Most certainly.’
‘We shall enjoy it greatly, it would be a real pleasure. What about
the time?’ ‘All hours.’
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‘Tell us which you would prefer. We’re quite strangers to your country; we don’t know when you have visitors,’ said Miss Quested.
43
b. Negative Social Contacts
Forster demonstrates some negative social contacts in his novel. In the beginning of the novel, Mrs. Callendar and Mrs. Lesley give Aziz an ‘inevitable
snub – his bow ignored, his carriage taken.’ 18 Forster’s description shows the ladies’ non- cooperative attitude toward Aziz. ‘… While they argued, the people
came out. Both were ladies. Aziz lifted his hat. The first, who was in evening dress, glanced at the Indian and turned instinctively away.’ 18
Mrs. Turton also acts the same badly attitude toward the Indians in the Bridge Party. It is seen by her words, ’I refuse to shake hands with any of the
men, unless it has to be the Nawab Bahadur.’ 41. Likewise, Miss Quested and Mrs. Moore experience a failure when in the first time both ladies try to build
communication with the Indian guests in the same party. Apparently, the Indian guests feel awkward to start communication with the English lady.
… Miss Quested now had her desired opportunity; friendly Indians were before her, and she tried to make them talk, but she failed, she
strove in vain against the echoing walls of their civility. Whatever she said produced a murmur of deprecation, varying into a murmur of
concern when she dropped her pocket-handkerchief. She tried doing nothing, to see what that produced, and they too did nothing. Mrs.
Moore was equally unsuccessful. Mrs. Turton waited for them with a detached expression; she had known what nonsense it all was from the
first. 43
Ronny Heaslop comes to Mr. Fielding’s College to fetch his mother and Miss Quested. Arriving at the College, he finds his going-to-be-fiancé, Miss
Quested, has chatted with two Indian gentlemen. 71 Forster reveals once again a
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negative social contact, seen in Heaslop’s ignorance and annoyance toward Aziz and Professor Narayan Godbole. Ronny takes a gesture, which he does not has to
be polite or answer any word from his subordinates. His arrogance as an Englishman either an official makes him decide not to be polite toward Indians,
being another form of negative social contacts. Forster expresses this point by his words, ‘How gross he had been at Mr. Fielding’s – spoiling the talk and walking
off in the middle of the haunting song’ 79 3.
The Social Contacts Based on whether the Contacts are Made Directly or not between the English and the Indians during British Colonialism in India
As it has been explained in Social Contacts Theories, this type of social contact is divided into Primary and Secondary Social Contacts. This novel also
gives us a lot of examples of this social contact type. a.
Primary Social Contacts Based on its characters, Forster gives us many examples of this primary
social contact. Any conversation, including the stimuli and the response, between the English and the Indians is an example of Primary Social Contacts. As for
instance, the dialogue on page 150 between Miss Quested and Aziz when they take a trip to Marabar caves:
‘Are you married, Dr. Aziz?’ she asked, stopping again, and frowning.
‘Yes, indeed, do come and see my wife’ – for he felt it more artistic to have his wife alive for a moment.
‘Thank you,’ she said absently. ‘She is not at Chandrapore just now.’
‘And have you children?’ ‘Yes, indeed, three,’ he replied in firmer tones.
‘Are they a great pleasure to you?’ ‘Why, naturally, I adore them,’ he laughed
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It is clear that from the conversation, each character can give stimuli and response one to another – Miss Quested asks Aziz with her face sad and plain
expression, and Aziz responses her with his high spirit and laughter. Another is seen in Aziz and Fielding’s conversation after party to celebrate Aziz’s freedom:
‘Oh, I wish you wouldn’t make that kind of remark,’ he continued after a pause. ‘It is the one thing in you I can’t put up with.’
‘I put up with all things in you, so what is to be done?’ ‘Well, you hurt me by saying it; good night.’ 246
From this conversation, Aziz speaks something unpleasant toward Mr. Fielding as the stimuli and Mr. Fielding can directly response it with a disappointment
statement. b.
Secondary Social Contacts As we know, this type of social contacts is divided again into two parts.
The writer will discuss both the Direct Secondary Social Contacts and the Indirectly Secondary Social Contacts according to Forster’s performance in his
novel, A Passage to India. 1
Direct Secondary Social Contacts This type of contact is never seen in Forster’s novel because in that time,
using telephone is a luxurious thing, making it hardly to be done by the English toward the India, and vice versa. If there is any telephone call, it must be from the
higher English officials to his lower English officials. Aziz has a servant to make a phone call to the railway station 19, but it does not show the social contact
between the English and the Indians, since Aziz makes a call to his own race. Likewise, Lady Mellanby makes a call to another old English lady so that Mrs.
Moore can reserve her own cabin on her way back to England; also Mr. Heaslop
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receives the news of his mother’s death from a telegraph at Aden, ‘…We hear, sir, that your mother has died. May we ask where the cable came from?’ ‘Aden.’
241 When two different races want to pass a news to each other, they prefer to use the service or the help of a servant to give a message or an invitation card.
This is the type of Indirect Secondary Social Contacts in which the writer discusses on the next part.
2 Indirect Secondary Social Contacts
This is the type of contact that one needs some time to deliver and or receive news from one to another. Some events in this novel exactly describe the
character of this contact. The event when Mr. Callendar sends a message carried by his servant to Aziz 17 and then Aziz resends his message to Mr. Callendar
19 is one of the examples of Indirect Secondary Social Contact. It takes time for both of them to gain information from each other. That pause that makes Aziz
does not meet the Major in his residence. The Collector, when holding the Bridge Party, also sends invitation cards
to his guests, ‘…Next day he issued invitation cards to numerous Indian gentlemen in the neighbourhood …’ 36 In his few days visiting Venice and
other exciting places overseas, Mr. Fielding writes picture post-cards to Aziz and other Indian friends, telling them that they will miss the joys he experiences at the
moment. From the examples, it seems that both the English and the Indians in that time prefer to send messages by writing notes or letter than make a telephone call.
For the case of Dr. Aziz and Major Callendar, writing a message may be as a reminder to their position as a colonizer and a colonized. The message is a symbol
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that a colonized must obey the colonizer’s command. The Collector issues the invitation cards for the sake of formality to his guests. And for Mr. Fielding,
sending picture post-cards is his attempt to express his affection and keep the friendship to his Indian friends.
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CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
