A Passage to India

Poetic, idealistic, and emotionally sensitive, Dr. Aziz acts as the main Indian protagonist in A Passage to India. At the beginning of the novel, Aziz exhibits a desire for some degree of Westernization, acting as an English gentleman and condemning India for not being as progressed as the Western world. Despite this, he resents the English’s presence in India and cannot always act according to Western values: “Aziz upheld the proprieties, though he did not invest them with any moral halo, and it was here that he chiefly differed from an Englishman” (110). He is prejudiced against the Hindus of his country and is deeply devoted to his Islamic faith.

He actively seeks a friendship with Fielding, considering Fielding’s balance of Western values and compassion to other races to be the kind of balanced personality he wishes to emulate. They differ greatly in expressing emotion, with Aziz freely and enthusiastically talking about sex, women, and emotional expression. He is confused by “the pedantry and fuss with which Europe tabulates the facts of sex” (110) and discusses Adela's body and breasts (130) openly, which Fielding finds off-putting.

Though Aziz is hospitable and wants to challenge the English’s low expectations of India, Adela’s accusations after the trip to the Marabar Caves shocks Aziz into realizing the impossibility of ever being fully accepted by the English.