Discuss ways in which representations of non English characters are used to define Englishness in any two or three texts.

logic (as apposed to superstition) are distinguished components of Englishness. These qualities are also associated with whiteness, especially in Africa. In both these novels there are clear binary oppositions which can be simplified into two groups; Masculinity and rationality associated with Englishness and Femininity and irrationality associated with the Africans and Indians. King Solomon’s Mines shows that the inhabitants of Africa seem to lack these qualities with the exception of Umbopa which I will discuss later.

A passage to India is a classic anti British and anti imperialist novel whereas King Solomon’s Mines is generally accepted to a pro imperialist novel. As I mentioned before A passage to India was written twenty nine years after King Solomon’s Mines. During this time England and in fact the whole world had undergone many historical, cultural and national changes, the most significant event being the First World War. Therefore the kind or version of Englishness which can found in Forster’s work is very different and more complex than that found in King Solomon’s Mines. The English identity that is being challenged in Forster’s work can be defined as Anglo Indian. There are many difficulties and contradictions which are both expressed in the representation of the English characters as well as the Indian characters. In my discussion of A Passage to India I will focus on the way Englishness is shown to be weak, diluted, repressed and lacking spirituality through the character of Aziz. The version of Englishness which I suggested in King Solomon’s mines is greatly threatened if not lost by the time Forster was writing. The tense political situation in India also poses as a threat to the presence and identity of the English in their colonies. The great British Empire was being threatened by the Indians who demanded independence from the British rule. Aziz is a complex character. He is often shown to be poetic, sensual, a loyal friend, (at least in the first section of the novel) and rather melancholic at times. The English characters think of Indians as a ‘collective’ rather than Individuals and vice versa but Forster does not present Aziz in this way. ‘The Birmingham post commented that Aziz impresses one as the absolutely “real” Indian to be found in fiction....’ (Ebbatson and Neale 1986).

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However shortly after publication Forester was also criticised for having little knowledge of Indian people and subsequently his representation of Indians and the English in India was ridiculed.

Aziz mourns the loss of Islamic traditions, place of poetry and importance of religion in his life and India. Westerners went to the east to become spiritually enlightened as is the case with Mrs Moor. Aziz finds little comfort in religion, poetry or his occupation. This lack of spirituality or a weakening of morals shows that Anglo Indian Englishness is lacking the ‘missionary’ dimension of imperialism which I have discussed below. Mrs Moor feels that the English are not being pleasant to the Indians and she tells Ronny that God is ‘omnipresent’ in India. Ronny feels her ‘religious strain’ (p42) is a symptom of bad health. There are many such discussions in the first part of the novel which highlights the changing attitudes of the two generations of English people because Mrs Moor beings to question the role of the English people in India.

‘Missionary nationalism’ and the subsequent need for enlightenment of the natives also played a key role in the reasons for the formation of an Empire. This is apparent in both King Solomon’s Mines and A passage to India. Kumar uses the example of the French Revolution which he feels

Provides us a vivid example of ‘missionary nationalism’: a nationalism that finds its principles not so much in equating state and nation as in extending the supposed benefits of a particular nation’s rule and civilization to other peoples.

The role of Good, Sir Henry and Quatermain can be seen to be somewhat missionary as they help to restore he right king to Kukuanaland. Umbopa could not have achieved his status without the help of the tactful Englishmen. Thus the role of the Englishmen in bringing ‘civilisation’ and peace to Kukuanaland is a quality which can certainly be attributed to a kind of Englishness which was being supported through literature in the late nineteenth century. As soon as Quatermain introduces his readers to Umbopa he is compared to Sir Henry. Sir Henry is described as the ‘biggest-chested and longest armed man’ Quatermain has ever seen (pg 4); likewise Umbopa is a ‘magnificent looking man’ (41). Low suggests in White Skins Black Masks (1996) that

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‘Haggard, ... depend[s] on the body images of Africa… to reconstitute… national and colonial identities. Haggard dreaming of a Zulu nation, imagines an empowering world of masculinity and militarism, in order to rediscover the hidden English chivalric potential in a period of cultural decadence and effeminacy. (pg 35)

This quote helps to explain some of the reason why the Umbopa and Sir Henry are described in the way I have suggested above. Sir Henry reminds Quatermain of an ancient Dane likewise Umbopa and his tribesmen allow Quatermain to reinforce a sense of Englishness. Unlike the typical depiction of Africans as ape like savages; (a popular late Victorian idea) the men of Kukuanaland are very tall, handsome, very brave and are willing to help restore order and justice. In this way Haggard tried to invent a kind of masculine Englishness which can no longer be found in England. Nevertheless English superiority is constructed and maintained through the African’s irrationality.

The tension between the Indians and Anglo Indians/English is apparent from the beginning of Forster’s novel. Dr. Aziz forms a deep friendship with Fielding but a series of misunderstandings result in the breaking up of that great friendship. Dr. Aziz’s friendship with Fielding is disliked by the English community because it undermines their superiority. It also blurs the boundaries between the colonised and the coloniser which had taken place to some extent because of inter-marriages between the English and Indians. The division between white and non white is absolute as Said explains in Culture and Imperialism (1993) that ‘no amount of friendship or camaraderie can change the rudiments of racial difference’ (p162). Forster’s work is often seen as a social satire in which Forster represents English to be very afraid of free mixing with the ‘other’. There is a sense of disunity between the Hindu and Muslim characters in A Passage to India because of the differences between their religions; the only time the Muslims and Hindus unite is against the English. Similarly there is great tension between the English community in this novel. Fielding is unlike the other English people because he tends not to agree with the beliefs of his fellow Englishmen. Mrs Moor and Adela also have a different opinion to the rest of the English women and men. Aziz’s India is also disunited; there is no sense of national identity because India is made up of various cultures, religions and casts. The Anglo Indian version of Englishness is also disunited as

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