Theme Of Friendship In The Novel 'A Passage To India'

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Passage 3 on pages 349 and 350 from the novel A Passage to India contributes to the overall theme of the story by opening with the question “Can you always tell whether a stranger is your friend?” Friendship and the overall idea of friendships that break racial boundaries is a constant theme throughout the book that can be seen through Aziz’s encounter with Mrs. Moore at the mosque, the betrayal of friends from the false accusation of Adela, and with his friendship with Mr. Fielding. This passage examines further into the idea of friendship with an Englishman as Aziz’s reflects on his own friendships with the other characters while being emotionally torn whether he should be kind and befriend Ralph. The passage contributes to the overall theme …show more content…

This short ending of the passage is so meaningful to the overall theme of friendships for the novel because even though Aziz knew better than to let his guard down and befriend an Englishmen again he did so one last time for Mrs. Moore’s son Ralph because he still felt loyalty toward her even though she wasn’t a good friend to him. This scene shows Aziz’s high morals, character, and overall loyalty to his friends and to others around him. He also recalls how even though he had a good friendship with Mrs. Moore she still didn’t come to see him in prison and didn’t speak on his behalf when he was accused. Even though Mrs. Moore was a good friend in the beginning she did not stand up for her friend Aziz when he needed her most which shows how each side, the English and the Indians have different points of view on friendship, loyalty, and respect which is why it is hard for them to get along throughout the …show more content…

Although this is only a small part of the overall story Aziz recalls his friendships with Adela at the caves and with Mrs. Moore and how they both betrayed him. The two questions posed at the beginning and end show that Aziz really can’t help but befriend the English because of his overall character and good heart for others. The dialogue format and the word choices of the passage show how interracial friendships in India during this time were difficult to build and even more difficult to

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