Character List: A Passage to India

E.M. Forster with Syed Ross Masood (1911)

Dr. Aziz: A Moslem doctor living in Chandrapore at the beginning of the novel. He is a widower with three children who meets Mrs Moore, an elderly English widow, who has three children herself, and becomes friends with her. Although he is generous and loving toward his English friends, including Mrs Moore and Cyril Fielding, after Adela Quested accuses him of assoult he becomes bitter, vindictive and notoriously anti-British. A primary concern of A Passage to India is the shift in Dr. Aziz’s views of the British from accommodating and even a bit submissive to an aggressively anti-colonial stance.

Cyril Fielding: The schoolmaster of Government College, Fielding stands alone among the British officials in India, for he is one of the few to treat the Indians with a sense of decency and respect. Fielding is an individualist who has no great allegiance to any particular group but rather to his core set of liberal values and sense of justice. This quality allows Fielding to break with the English who support Adela Quested’s charges against Aziz and side with the Indians in support of him. However, the events surrounding Aziz’s trial cause Fielding to become disenchanted with India, despite his affection for the nation, and motivate him to leave India and return to return to resume a different post.

Adela Quested: Adela Quested arrives in India, with the intention of marrying Ronny Heaslop, but changes her mind several times and eventually realises that she does not love him and cannot marry him. She is a woman of conflicting character traits: although an intellectual, she is short-sighted. Although she foolishly accuses Dr. Aziz of assaulting her in the Marabar caves, she finds the courage to withdraw the charge. She also suffers from hallucinations that are symptomatic her somewhat unstable personality. However, Forster finally reveals her to be a woman of character and decency who accepts the difficulties she suffers.

Mrs Moore: An elderly woman with three children, Mrs Moore visits India with Adela Quested to see her son, Ronny Heaslop. Mrs Moore the paragon of Christian decency and kindness, but she suffers from anxiety concerning her own mortality. During the expedition to the Marabar Caves her confidence in the order of the universe is shaken by an echo that she hears in one of the caves. Afterwards, Mrs Moore becomes sullen and depressed. When Ronny suspects that she will aid Aziz in his defence, he arranges for Mrs Moore to leave India. On the journey home, she dies from heat exhaustion.

Professor Narayan Godbole: A Deccani Brahmin who is a professor at the college in Chandrapore, Godbole represents Hindi philosophies in A Passage to India He is a man of calm character and utter repose, showing no worry for the events around him, no matter how significant. He leaves Chandrapore to start a high school in Central India after the trial of Aziz, who later joins him there.

Ronny Heaslop: The son of Mrs Moore from her first marriage, Ronny typifies the “sun-dried bureaucrat” and Anglo-Indian. He is condescending and cruel toward the Indians, believing that he is not in India to be kind, but rather rule over the nation. He becomes a martyr during the trial because of the ill treatment of Adela, but shows himself to be manipulative and callous when he pushes to have his mother leave India when he fears she may hurt the prosecution’s case.

Mahmoud Ali: This friend of Aziz serves as one of the lawyers for his defence, and takes a defiant anti-British stance. His behaviour during the trial is dangerously aggressive, however, and he threatens to provoke a riot after Aziz’s acquittal. Later he refuses to clear up the misunderstanding concerning Fielding’s marriage to Stella Moore.

Antony: One of Adela’s servants; he has to accompany Adela and Mrs Moore to the Marabar Caves, but since he was a spy for Ronny Heaslop Mohammed Latif bribes him not to go. Later he follows Adela as she leaves India and attempts to blackmail her.

Armitrao: Aziz hires this Hindu attorney as his defence lawyer. Since Armitrao is known for his anti-British attitudes, this move highlights the racial and political overtones of Aziz’s trial.

Nawab Bahadur: A distinguished local resident in Chandrapore, he is well-respected and admired among the Indians. However, Miss Derek snubs him when his car crashes into a tree while he takes Adela and Ronny on a tour of Chandrapore.

Mrs Bhattacharya: An Indian woman whom Mrs Moore meets during the Bridge Party. Mrs Bhattacharya postpones a trip to Calcutta to have tea with Mrs Moore, but abruptly cancels at the last minute.

Major Callendar: Major Callendar is the civil surgeon in Chandrapore and Dr. Aziz’s boss. He also takes part in the trial against Aziz, attempting to stop Adela’s confession on medical grounds.

Mrs Callendar: Major Callendar’s wife. She typifies the Anglo-Indian mindset, openly dismissing the Indians as uncultured inferiors.

Ram Chand: He is one of Aziz’s friends with whom he discusses the consequences of attending the Bridge Party.

Mr Das: Mrs Bhattacharya’s brother and Ronny’s assistant. He is the judge who presides over the Aziz’s trial. After the trial, he approaches Aziz to ask him to write for his journal, which is primarily for Hindus.

Miss Derek: A younger Englishwoman, she assists Ronny and Adela after the Nawab Bahadur’s car crashes, but she snubs the Nawab Bahadur. Later she takes Fielding to the Marabar Caves after he had missed the train.

Sir Gilbert: The Lieutenant-Governor of the province. He visits Chandrapore after the trial to deal with the problems of racial discord precipitated by the charges against Aziz.

Mr Graysford: He is one of the local missionaries in Chandrapore.

Hamidullah: This friend of Aziz, educated at Cambridge, tells Aziz that one can only be friends with an English person outside of India.

Hamidullah Begum: Hamidullah’s wife; she is a distant aunt of Aziz.

Mr Haq: He is the police inspector who arrests Aziz.

Mr Harris: He is the Eurasian driver for the Nawab Bahadur who crashes the car into a tree.

Panna Lal: One of Aziz’s friends who was to testify for the prosecution at his trial. He makes a public apology to Aziz and secures the release of Nureddin after rumours circulate that he was being tortured by the English officials.

Mohammed Latif: One of Aziz’s friends. He bribes Antony not to attend the expedition to Chandrapore.

Mrs Lesley: This friend of Mrs Callendar takes Aziz’s tonga when he arrives at the Calklendar’s house upon the Major’s request.

Colonel Maggs: The Political Agent in Mau. He is the new adversary of Aziz, who keeps him under suspicion because of the events in Chandrapore.

Lady Mellanby: The wife of the Lieutenant-Governor. She aids Mrs Moore in her attempt to leave India by offering her own cabin on a ship travelling to England.

Mr McBryde: The District Superintendent of Police in Chandrapore. He is the most reflective and educated of the Chandrapore officials, but like the rest of them, he has stern prejudices against Indians. He conducts the prosecution of Aziz.

Syed Mohammed: He is the assistant engineer in Chandrapore and a confidant of Aziz.

Ralph Moore: The youngest son of Mrs Moore. He accompanies his sister and Fielding on their travels around India. Aziz behaves rudely towards him, but soon relents and takes Ralph on the nearby river for a tour of Mau.

Stella Moore: Mrs Moore’s daughter. She marries Fielding. Aziz thinks that Fielding has married Adela Quested.

Nureddin: This Indian is said to have been held and tortured by the police during Aziz’s trial, but he is released unharmed.

Rafi: Syed Mohammed’s nephew. He proposes that something suspicious occurred during Fielding’s party, because both Aziz and Godbole fell ill afterward.

Mr Sorley: He is one of the local missionaries in Chandrapore.

Mr Turton: He is the local Collector who proposes a Bridge Party for the Indians, and other than Fielding is the only British official who treats the Indian guests well during that event.