LITR 5734:
Colonial & Postcolonial Literature
Student Film Presentation 2005
Georgeann
Ward
20
September 2005
Film
Highlight: A Passage to
India
(d. David Lean, 1984)
While
Derek Walcott’s poetry exists as an attempt to reconcile the two cultures
within his blood (Wallace, 13 September 2005), E.M. Forster’s A Passage to
India endeavors to answer the question, “Can the English and Indians be
friends?” To that end, Miss
Quested, Mrs. Moore, and Dr. Aziz plan a day trip to the Marabar Hills, a stab
at friendship that ultimately results in the primary plot conflict of the novel
and movie.
In the
scene that I have selected (Forster 163), the two English ladies, their host,
Dr. Aziz, and a slew of Indians enter into one of the Marabar caves.
The movie nicely represents how disturbing the caves can be, so that
moviegoers may better understand why both Mrs. Moore and Miss Quested are
traumatized by the experience. This
scene may also be understood on a larger scale, which provokes the question: How
is Mrs. Moore’s reaction to the caves particularly British or colonial?
How does this scene symbolize the English presence in India?
How are the caves representative of the universe?
Things
to Note:
§
The number of people
present mimics the chaos of a busy Indian market or street.
§
The crush of people also
creates a feeling of claustrophobia.
§
Darkness, only light from
a lantern.
§
The characters cannot see
where they are going.
§
They are pressed forward
by all of the other people.
§
The echo fades away,
booms, then comes rushing back.
§
The boom sounds like an
avalanche.
§
The guide yells, “Kawa
Dol”
§
Aziz makes the mistake of
screaming “Mrs. Moore!”
§
Mrs. Moore stumbles out
of the cave flustered, hot, vision affected, almost hallucinating, and talking
to herself. She seems to be having
a heat stroke.
§
“We are merely passing
figures in a godless universe.”
§
The climate is too hot
for the English ladies.
§
This experience runs
counter to the British ideal of restraint, propriety, and even aloofness.
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