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"Comple teness , no t recons t ruc t ion" :Forster 's Use of Let ters in The Hill of Devifor "Par t I I I " o f Passage To India

S U N I L C H A N D , Kent State University

In 1953 , Fo rs ter publ i shed The Hill o f Devi, his edi t ion of the let ters hew ro te h om e du r i ng h i s two v isits t o Ind ia in 1912-13 an d 1921 , aug m en tedby de scrip t ive a n d analyt ical detai ls . Eve r s ince i ts earl iest reviews, this bookha s be en a cc la im ed as a r ich rese rvo i r of m ate r ia l for A Passage To India.1

Though the le t te rs a re cer ta in ly not the only source for A Passage To India,m an y of the co rres po nd en ce s be tween th em a nd sec t ions of the novel a re of tenso c lose a s to a rg ue an e specia l r e l a t ionsh ip . Th es e co r res po nd en ce s r an gef r o m p a r a d i g m s i n The Hill of Devi o f s i tua t ion , charac ters , and themes tha ta p p ea r in th e novel to pract ically identical epis od es an d detai ls . M ost cr it icshave noted the broader relat ionships, such as the fact diat both books containaccoun t s o f the dead t r ee / snake ep i sode , the moto r ca r acc iden t , and GokulAshtami, whi le o th ers have cons id ered ra th er m or e in t r ica te t ies, such as thea t t i t u d e s t o w a r d s H i n d u i s m .2 Ve ry litt le of this criticism, ho w ev er, trea ts thequest ion of what Forster did with his material , of how he handled the t ransferof his memories into ar t .

S tudy ing some o f the co r respondences be tween The Hill . . . an d pa r ts of"Temple," Laurence Brander makes some suggest ive, albei t cr i t ical ly character is t ic ,re m ar ks . H e no tes that in this sect ion Forste r had "only to describe what h esaw wi th the ada pta t io ns tha t a r t requ i red ." T h o ug h some episodes an d scenesw e r e " c h a n g e d b y a r ti st ic n e ce s si ty, " o t h e r s " r e m e m b e r e d d i f f e r e n t ly, " a n dstill o th ers " reca l led a l tho ug h not previous ly reco rde d," the most fun dam enta la l te ra t ion developed out of " the need to reorder memory so tha t the var iousparts of the fest ival could al ternate equally" with the scenes of reconcil iat ionbe tween Az iz and the Eng l i shmen .3 T h e i ssues ra ised he re p ro m pt analysis .Why did Fors ter ' s a r t req ui re "adapta t ions"? W hat were d iese ada pta t ion s an dhow were they han dle d? W hat we re the pres sure s of "ar ti s tic necess ity" andh o w d i d th e y a f fe c t h i s m e m o r i e s ? H o w w e r e t h e m e m o r i e s r e o r d e r e d ?The search for answers to such quest ions reveals some interest ing perspect iveson the novel , an d on Fors ter ' s techn ique . O n com pa r ing sec tions of the novelwith relevant port ions of the let ters , we f ind that the novelis t , fol lowing hissource quite extensively, makes only infrequent adaptat ions, i .e . , his memoriesde term ine how cer ta in scenes shal l ap pe ar in the novel. Th ese m em ories a reno t only descr ip t ive bu t mem orie s of ton e and ju d g m e n t as well , a fac t tha thas som e be arin g on the place of H ind uis m in the novel . W he n the novelistadapts or modif ies h is source , he does so for def in i te themat ic or s t ruc tura lrea son s, as well as for creat in g mo m en ts of irony. T o i l lustrate these prop osi t ion s,th i s pape r examines the deb t A Passage To India owes The Hill of Devi in thepresentat ion of a part icular s i tuat ion often noted as evolving out of the let ters ,th e Gokul Ashtami festival.4

T h e Gokul Ashtami festival is cen tral to the third m ov em en t of the nove l ,an d to the reconcil iat ions, such as they are, tha t the work offers. T h e festivali ts e lf F o r s t e r f o u n d t o b e q u i t e m e m o r a b l e . O f t h e l e t t e r s d e s c r i b i n g i tsce leb ra t ion in Dewas , he commented : "The fo l lowing l e t t e r s on the Goku lAshtami Fest ival are the most important of my let ters home, for they describe

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(if t o o f a c e t io u s l y ) r i t e s i n w h i c h a E u r o p e a n c a n s e l d o m h a v e s h a r e d "(HD, p . 151). I t is im po rta nt to recall he re tha t the festival Forste r pre sen tedin A Passage .. . was the par t ic u lar ce lebra t ion of Gokul o r Janam-Ashtami tha tob ta ined in Dewas; the " r ites" were pecul iar to tha t s ta te . H e expla in ed tha tthe occasion was celeb rated all over In dia , "bu t I have ne ve r he ar d of it bein g

ce leb ra ted so sum ptuous ly. I t had bee n ap pro pr i a t ed a nd worked u p by theDew as dyn asty. Priests took l it tle pa rt in i t, the de vo ut we re in direct contac twi th the i r god, emot ion meant more than r i tua l" (HD, p. 177). In this context,the unique de ta i l s of The Hill. . . as they re ap p ea r in A Passage . . . are all di em ore s ignif icant. Th is exam inat ion of how Fors ter ' s me mo ries of Gokul Ashtamiwere t r ans fe r red f rom The Hill. . . to A P assage . . . is con duc ted th ro ug h fo ur areas .The f i rs t area encompasses the set t ing of the fest ival , and includes the temple-hal land the idol . The second contains the celebrat ion of the fest ival , and coversthe dura t ion , the s ingers and the bands , Godbole , the Bir th , and the merr iment .T h e t h i r d a r e a i n v o l v e s t h e p r o c e s s i o n , a n d t h e f o u r t h t h e a t m o s p h e r e o fthe fes tiva l. Fo rs ter ' s co m m en ts on the ac t ion , bo th d i rec t an d im pl ied , a reconsidered as they ar ise.

The desc r ip t ion o f the se t t ing in A Passage . . . c lo se ly a p p r o a c h e s t h a tp resen ted in The Hill . . . Som e detai ls of the original are u sed exact ly as theywe re, od iers are intro du ce d indirect ly. T h e two basic divisions of the set t inginc lude the pa lace and temple-hal l and the i r decora t ions on one hand, and theidol an d i ts ad or nm en t on the o ther. T h e Old Palace a t Dewas , scene of thece lebra t ion in The Hill. . . is descr ibed in one p ar ag ra p h: "T h e O ld Palace isbui l t a round a cour tyard about f i f ty fee t square , the temple-hal l be ing a longo ne s ide o f the g r ou n d f loo r. T h e ha l l is o p en to the cou r t an d d iv ide din to th re e or fou r a isles by th ick p i l la rs . T h e s inge rs s ta nd a t o n e end ofthe chief aisle , the shrin e is at the ot he r end , re d carpe t betw een . T h e publics q u a t s a g a i n s t t h e p i l l a r s a n d is c o n t r o l l e d , o f c o u r s e i n c o m p e t e n t l y , bys c h o o l b o y v o l u n t e e r s " (HD, p . 1 6 1 ) . A c c u r a t e d e t a i l s o f t h i s d e s c r i p t i o n ,rear ranged "by ar t i s t ic necess i ty," reappear in the novel . Ear ly in Ch. XXXIII ,Fors ter wr i tes of where Godbole "s tands in the presence of God": "This corr idorin t h e p a la c e a t M a u o p e n e d t h r o u g h o t h e r c o r r i d o r s i n t o a c o u r t y a r d . "T h e "a is le" of The Hill . . . beco me s a "co rr ido r" w i th "p i l la rs an d vaul t ings ,"a carp et dow n the midd le , an d a shr in e "a t th e en d." "H ind us sa t on e i the rs i d e o f t h e c a r p e t w h e r e t h e y c o u l d f i n d r o o m . . . . S c h o o l b o y s k e p tineff icient o rd e r" (p p. 283 -84). A l it tle later, th e ca rpe t is identif ied as red .Los t in h i s devo t ions , Godbo le "came back to the s t r ip o f r ed ca rpe t anddiscovered th a t he was da nc ing up on i t" (p . 286) . T h e t ransfe r of the de ta i lto th i s po in t is ca re fu l ly c on t ro l l e d to co n t r a s t t he r ea l i ty o f th e r e dn es swith the almo st myst ical t ra ns po rts of G od bo le as his "sp ir i tu al" force seeks" c o m p l e t i o n " o f a l l e x p e r i e n c e . T h e r a t h e r b i z a r r e d e c o r a t i o n s o f t h e h a l lwea ve in an d ou t of the two desc ript ion s. T h e let ters tell us that " the wallsa r e h u n g w i t h d e p l o r a b l e o l e o g r a p h s , t h e c h a n d e l i e r s , d r a p e r i e s e v e r y t h i n gba d" (p . 160) , an d we learn la ter of " th e mo t toes f rom Eng l ish poet ry tha twou ldn ' t s t i ck up" (p . 165) . In the nove l , t he "p i l l a r s and vau l t ings cou ldscarcely be seen be hin d colo ured ra gs, i r idescent balls, ch an de liers of op aq uep i n k g l as s , a n d m u r k y p h o t o g r a p h s f r a m e d c r o o k e d l y " ( p . 2 8 3 ) . T h e i d o li ts e lf is "o ve rh un g by o le og rap hs " (p . 285) . Som e de ta i l s a re he re ad d ed ,bu t m or e imp or ta nd y, the ar ti st ic ima ginat ion is once again a t wo rk crea t ingo u t o f w h a t w a s m e r e d e s c r i p t i o n t h e ir o n i c j u x t a p o s i t i o n o f " i d o l " a n d"oleo grap h." Such achievem ent in i rony is t r ium ph an t ly repe ate d in on e of thefamous invocat ions of the novel , the inscript ion composed in English, one oft h e m a n y t h a t " w e r e h u n g w h e r e t h e y c o u l d n o t b e r e a d , o r h a d t w i t c h e dthe ir dra w ing -pin s o ut of the s tucco . . . Go d is Lov e" (p. 285 ).

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As Private Secretary to the Rajah of Dewas, one of Forster's naggingconcerns was the supply of electricity. T h e special arrangem ents m ade for diefestival are chronicled in The Hill. . . T h re e w eeks before the festival beg an,Forster wrote: "Electric light (100 this) will be specially installed" (HD, p. 153).He was later "bothered over the electric lighting for the Old Palace which

has to be temporarily installed" (p. 155). Ultimately, writing on the fourthday of the festival, he mentioned "the thudding of the old steam engine whichwe have tinkered up to drive our electric light" (p. 159). The engine and dielights appear in A Passage . . . , once again pu t to more than descriptive use.We learn "hundreds of electric lights had been lit in His honour (worked by anengine whose thumps des t royed the rhythm of the hymn)" (PI, p. 285).This same engine is also used to build a moment of black comedy, almost,around the dying Rajah who, having ecstat ical ly "seen the Lord 's salvation . . . grew fretful. T h e bu m pin g of the steam engine that worked thedynamo disturbed him, and he asked for what reason it had been introducedinto his ho me . Th ey replied they would enq uire, and adm inistered a sedative"(pp. 288-89). Through the almost casual but quite pointed juxtapositionsin these sentences, Forster extends the ironies in his presentation of thefestival.

The idol of Lord Krishna appears briefly in both books, but a descriptionof the figure, "Dolly" in The Hill..., app ears only in that work. Forster sawdie idol itself only for a moment before the procession got under way, anddescribed "the thing" as having a "face like an il l-tempered pea: curiouslitde lump for so much to centre round" (HD, p. 167). All we learn of theidol in the novel is that "the God to be born" appears as "a silver image thesize of a teaspoon " (p. 283). I shall show below d iat in the othe r details ofthe p rocession, the novel follows die letters closely. Why tiien did Forster notpresent a more detailed picture of "the God Himself in whose honour thecongregation had gadiered?" (HD, p . 285). T he answer the novel provides isthat the obscurity of the central divinity is typical of the "muddle" of Hinduism.Is it not also possible, however, that the inclusion of Forster's uncomplimentarymemories of die figure would have upset irreparably the balance of descriptionin "T em ple "? I believe tha t the simile he chose of the teasp oo n, displacedfrom the passage concerning the altar itself is a compromise that offers aphysical dimension of die idol even as it catches die tone of Forster's originalanalogy. Instead of the idol, the n, we are pre sen ted with images of die altaran d the processional palanquin u pon which the idol sat. In diese descriptions,A Passage . .. follows The Hill. .. closely. "T he alta r is a mess of little objects,stifled with rose leaves," Forster wrote in The Hill. . . (p p. 159-60). It was"as usual smothered in mess and the gold and silver and rich silks that madeup its equ ipm ent were so disposed as to produce no effect. Chok ed somewherein the rose leaves, lay chief Dolly, but I could not locate him" (HD, p. 164).The novel not only repeats the description, but carries over similar verbs.Krishn a is "indistinguishable in the jum ble of H is own altar, hu dd led out ofsight am id images of inferio r descent, sm oth ered un d er rose-leaves . . .entirely obscured . . . . His face could no t be seen" (PI, p. 285). W hen weturn to die idol as it is prepared for the procession, we find once again thatthe letters have been exploited for material. Descriptions of the pa lanq uin ,shaped like a "gondola," with a "silver dragon's head," bearing the overwhelmedlitt le image, appear in both works, the debt of the novel being expressedthrough clearly related vocabulary (HD, pp. 167-68; PI, pp . 304-05). O neinteresting example of common detail appears in the account of the "richround banners that accompanied die palanquin (shaped like magnifying-glasses)and the pennons, and the fans of peacock's feathers" (HD, p. 168). In thenovel, this observation is refined to a picture of the palanquin "flanked by

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peacock fans and by st i ff c ircular banners of cr imson" (PI, p . 305) . T h e leade l e p h a n t o f The Hill. .. ,"no one on i ts back, to indicate humil i ty" (p. 167),becomes the e l ephan t s , " the i r howdahs empty ou t o f humi l i ty" (PI, p . 305).A n o t h e r l it tl e p i c t u r e o f " G o d s , b i g a n d li tt le . . . g e t t i n g a b o a r d " t h epalanquin probably harks back to Fors ter ' s recording in the le t te r tha t "a grea t

m an y g od s a re o n visit" for th e festival (HD, p . 158). Ov eral l , we m ay no ticetha t A Passage . . . re ca pt ur es , in fact, d ie tone of the descript ions of The Hill. . .While the novelis t does modify this tone, having noted even in The Hill... tha tit w a s p e r h a p s t o o f a c e ti o u s , i ts r e c u r r e n c e s u g g e s t s r e i n f o r c e m e n t o f t h enegat ive s t ra in in Fors ter ' s a t t i tude towards Hinduism in A Passage . . . 5

T u r n i n g f r o m t h e s e t t i n g t o t h e c e l e b r a t i o n o f t h e f e s t iv a l , w e f i n dFo rs t e r ma k in g a sub t l e use o f h i s r eco rds fo r s t ruc tu ra l pu rp ose s . Fu nd amenta l ly, the novel recrea tes for the reader the ce lebra t ion Fors ter descr ibedin a co m m en t in t rod uce d l a t e r in to T he Hill. . . "Prie sts to ok litt le p a rt in it,t he devou t were in d i r ec t con tac t wi th the i r god , emot ion mean t more thanr i t u a l " ( p . 1 7 7 ) . T h e fo c u s i n b o t h a c c o u n t s is p r i m a r i l y o n t h e p e o p l einvo lved , on the i r devo t ions , expressed long and loud , and on ind iv idua l s ,the Rajah in The Hill . . . , G o d b o l e in A Passage . . . , o n th e ir p a rt s in th ecere m onie s , a n d on the i r t ran spo r ts . W e shou ld firs t, howe ver, ex am ine th echronologica l ev idence of both accounts . The Hill . . . in forms us in a nu m be r ofplaces that the fest ival lasts eight days, and we enter i t through two let ters ,one wri t ten on the fourth day, the other on the day fol lowing the f inal r i tuals( p p . 1 58-6 3, 163-71). T h e lat ter le t ter of A ug us t 28 , de scrib ing th e last twoday s of th e festival, is by far th e len gth iest in T he H ill . . . , and it is from thisthat most of the detai ls in A Passage . . . a r e t ake n . For s t e r no ted he re tha t" t h i n g s b e g a n t o w a r m u p a t 11 : 3 0 p . m . o n t h e 2 6 t h , " a n d p r o c e e d e d t odescr ibe the events of the Bir th . A page la ter, he indica ted th a t the m errymaking fol lowing the Bir th took place on the "f inal day," obviously not , therefore , on the 26th . T h e nove l , on the o th er ha nd , offers no inform at ion onhow long the f e s t iva l l a s t s , p lung ing the r eade r d i r ec t ly in to the mids t o fwe l l -deve loped ce remonies which a re r evea led a s l ead ing immedia te ly to thecl imax of the r i tuals , a cl imax i tself followed by m erry -m ak ing . T w o m om en tsin t ime are sharply dist inguished, "eleven-fif ty" on Godbole 's wrist-watch (p. 286),a n d th e t h r e e m i n u t e s l e a d i n g t o m i d n i g h t ( p . 2 8 7 ) . T h e p r o c e s s i o n a n dimm ersion tak e place on the fol lowing day. In the novel the n, Fo rster re str ictedhis t ime-scheme to the las t ten minutes of the Bir th ce lebra t ions , indica t ingthese as precisely as he had the last half hour in The Hill..., an d te lescopedthe events of that day with those of the next , the merry-making in the novelfo l lowing imm edia te ly th e Bir th . T h e revision leads to a de ns e o rd er in g ofmater ia l and to a s t ruc tura l composi te of the myst ica l and mischevious sucha s F o r s t e r f o u n d l a c k i n g i n C h r i s t i a n i t y (HD, p p . 1 8 1 - 8 2 ; PI, p . 28 9) . I tsho u ld be n o te d th a t th i s is a ma jo r in s t anc e o f A Passage . . . a l t e r ing them e m o r i e s o f The Hill . . . u n d e r p r e s s u r e o f " a r t i s t i c n e c e s s i t y. " S i m i l a rinstances wil l be presented below. The restructuring of events al lowed Forsterto present the procession and the cl imactic end to the celebrat ions, along with

the acc iden t on the l ake , a s the c ruc ia l even t s o f the day "a f t e r the g rea tpujah ." In iso la t ing these episode s f rom the o thers in " rea l" t ime, he m an ag eds imul t aneous ly to ga the r a t t en t ion to them and to weave the Az iz ep i sodesorganica l ly in to th e s tory. His dec is ion th us served im po r ta nt them at ic a ndstructural funct ions.

Even though Fors t e r man ipu la t ed the ch rono logy o f the f e s t iva l to su i th i s pu rpose in the nove l , i n the desc r ip t ive de ta i l s o f even t s he kep t c loseto the informa t ion of h is le t te rs. T h e g roup s of s ingers , on e fo llowing an oth ere v e ry tw o h o u r s " th a t t h e c h a i n o f s a c r e d s o u n d s m i g h t b e u n i n t e r r u p t e d "a p p e a r i n b o t h (PI, p . 2 8 4 ; HD, p . 158) . T h e man y sourc es o f mu s ic a re

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co m m on to both , an d qua in t in both is " the smal l Eu rop ean ized b an d" p laying" in the cour tyard" outs ide the temple-hal l (PI, p . 285 ; HD, p . 158)6 T h every tu n e th i s ba n d p lays , "N igh t s o f G lad ne ss , " com es to th e nove l f romThe Hill. . . (PI, p . 2 8 5 ; HD, p . 165) . In add i t ion , the ma jo r ce leb ran t s ineach book are individuals , the Rajah in T he Hill. . . ,Go dbo le in A Passage . . .

Whereas I am not sugges t ing tha t one charac ter was modeled on the o t f ie r,the acco un ts of the dan cin g of each prop ose an inf luence in th is case . T h eRajah , w ho , l ike Go db ole , "m an age s not to be a bsu rd" in " re l ig ious ecs tacy,"is s e e n " d a n c i n g all t h e ti m e . . . j i g g i n g u p a n d d o w n w i th a h a p p yexpress ion on h is face" (HD, p . 160). Go dbo le discovers he is da nc ing "u p a n ddo w n, a th ir d of th e way to th e al ta r an d bac k ag ain . . . h is l i t t le legstwinkl ing" (PI, p . 286) . (Unl ike the Rajah , how ever, Godbo le does not dan cealone . ) A no th er poss ib le inf luence in pre serv ed in The H ill. . . As he dan cedan d san g , on ly a " t iny f r agm ent" o f P ro fesso r Go dbo le "a t t en de d to ou t s idethings" while , through his "spir i tual force," he impelled al l images "to that place

w h e r e c o m p l e t e n e s s c an b e f o u n d . C o m p l e t e n e s s , n o t r e c o n s t r u c t i o n " (PI,p p . 2 8 5 , 2 8 6 ) . T h i s e x p e r i e n c e is m a r k e d l y s im i l a r t o t h a t o f t h e D e w a nof Dewas at the same fest ival , recorded in a 1909 let ter of the Rajah, probablyk n o w n t o F o r s t e r p r i o r t o 1 9 2 4 , a n d p r i n t e d i n The Hill . . . : "I t wa s ve rys t r ik ing to see the Dewan s inging [bhajans] wi th h is aus te re bu t dev oted faceand an at t i tude of absolute uni ty with the Deit ies in front of him" (HD, p. 172).

T h e g ra nd ep i sodes o f the B i rth an d mer ry -m ak ing a re based fi rmly o nt h e r e p o r t s o f The Hill. . . W r i t in g h o m e , F o r s t e r c a n d i d l y a d m i t t e d h e h a d

forgotten most of the detai ls of the Bir th (HD, p . 164) . The f ew he r emembered ,the set t ing up of the cradle, the cradl ing of the napkin of cr imson si lk folded,in A Passage . . . , " in to a shape w hich ind ica ted a baby ' s " (p . 288) , bu t , l es schari tably in The Hill. . . , "so that i t looked l ike an o ld w om an ov er w ho m at rac t ion eng ine has passed" (HD, p . 164), th e na m in g of the chi ld , an d thethrowing of red powder are eas i ly t raced in both books . Otherwise , we arep r e s e n t e d w i t h s e c t i o n s i n b o t h w o r k s t h a t d e a l n o t w i t h t h e e v e n t s t h a tt r a n s p i r e d , b u t w i t h t h e n o i s e a n d a c t i o n t h a t a c c o m p a n i e d t h e m , F o r s t e rh a v i n g r e c o r d e d a n d r e c o l le c t e d t h e g e n e r a l a t m o s p h e r e r a t h e r t h a n t h er i t u a l s (PI, p p . 2 8 7 - 8 8 ; HD, p p . 1 6 4 - 6 5 ) . T h e s c e n e s o f m e r r y - m a k i n gi n c l u d e a l m o s t i d e n t i c a l d e t a i l s . We l e a r n in b o t h w o r k s o f t h e e n a c t e d" t h r e s h i n g a n d c h u r n i n g , " o f the gam e with bu tter , of the s ticks with which thegre at , sus pe nd ed u rn , full of greasy r ice an d milk, was bro ke n by the c elebra ntso v e r t h e i r o w n h e a d s , e v e n o f t h e f li es t h a t s e e m e d t o c o m e u p o n t h e mu n a w a r e s .7 A Passage To India adds the ch a rm ing cus tom of the fond l ing o fthe ch i ld , an d a l so m en t io ns se t t ing tu r ba ns on f i r e , a de ta i l cu r iou s un t i lwe recal l Fo rster h ad witnessed such pract ical jo ke s pe rfo rm ed in the co urt atDew as . O f a K ho la pu r spy, he wrote : "So m et im es h is tur ba n i s set on f i re ,wh ich makes me wre tched" (HD, p. 39).

T h e f in a l s t a g e o f t h e fe s t iv a l , t h e p r o c e s s i o n , is p e r h a p s t h e m o s tin t r i gu ing subjec t of s tudy. As e lsewhe re , som e descr ip t ions recu r while o the rsa re ad ap te d , bu t a mos t p ro m in en t m uta t io n i s e ffec ted in the o r de r in g o fe v e n t s . I n The Hill . . . , t h e t h r e e m a i n i n c i d e n t s o f t h e p r o c e s s i o n , t h eap pe ara nc e of the w om an, th e re lease of the pr i so ner a t the ja i l , an d th e finalim m ers ion o f th e m od e l v il lage occu r in th a t o rd e r . In A P assage . . . , t heor d er i s ch an ge d so tha t the ja i l ep isode prec ede s the o t he r two. O ne reasonfor the change seems to be the ar t is t ' s need to build a cl imax for the scene.Fors te r repe atedly avows tha t In dian ev ents d o not ten d to a c l imax. In thele t te rs he wrote of the ar r iva l of a grea t throng a t a chr is tening: "We swept

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i n to the cou r tya rd , t hen m e l t ed in to no th ing , as is t he Ind ia n sp i ri t. T h e rew a s n o g r a n d c r is is o r r e c e p t i o n " (HD, p . 120) . So too , a t th e e n d of th ei m m e r s i o n i n t h e n o v e l h e s h r u g s : " T h a t w a s t h e c li m a x , a s f a r a s I n d i aadmi t s o f one" (PI, p . 315) . T h e events as T he Hill . . . r eco rds the m do no tbui ld to a c l imax; in the reorder ing of A P assa ge . . . , t hey do . Th i s r eo rde r ing

also a l lows the n ovel i s t to fuse , no t ju s t "a l te rn a te ," the two s t ra nd s of h iss tory. T h e g rea t noise a t the ja i l s ta r t les Aziz an d Ra lph wi th " r u m o u rs ofs a l v a t i o n , " b r e a k i n g i n t o t h e i r c o n v e r s a t io n j u s t a s t h e f o r m e r c o m p l e t e s as a r c a s t i c r e f e r e n c e t o M i ss Q u e s t e d . O n r e s u m p t i o n o f t h e t a l k , A z i z ,"comp le te ly forg et t ing tha t they were not f r iends ," ex tend s h is h an d to Ralph,accompl ish ing one s tep toward reconci l ia t ion (PI, p p . 310-11) . T h e two m enth en ta ke a bo at o nt o the lake an d soon beh old th e las t r i te , of wh ich th ew om an is m ad e a par t . I t i s, in fac t, th ro u g h th e eyes of Aziz tha t we seethe im m ers ion cerem ony . H e ca tches s ight of the thro ng of peo ple , cyno sureamongst whom appears the "wi ld and beaut i fu l young sa in t wi th f lowers in

her ha i r" (PI, p . 314). T h e "lady fanat ic . . . gaud ily yet neat ly dre sse d inpu rp l e and ye llow, a c i rc l et o f j a sm ine flowers . . . r o un d h e r c h ig no n"of The Hill . . . (p. 169 is he re t ran sfo rm ed into an im age of ecstacy an d passion,the spel lbinding forces that lead the boats into col l is ion. The tension buildswi th the ru sh do wn to the water, unt il "a serv itor . . . nak ed, broa d-s ho uld ere d ,th in -wa i s t edthe Ind ian body aga in t r iumphan t , " de taches h imse l f to pe r fo rmhis "heredi ta ry off ice" (PI, p . 315) . A quie t m o m en t of susp ens e fo llows ash e w a d e s i n t o t h e l a k e , a m o m e n t b r o k e n by t h e c o n c u r r e n t i m m e r s i o n ,c o ll is io n a n d t r e m e n d o u s n o i s e o f a r t il le r y, d r u m s , e l e p h a n t s a n d t h u n d e r .Precedents may be found for al l these detai ls in The Hill . . . , w ith th e e x c e p ti o n

of the thu nd er , t ho ug h the who le accoun t the re is mu ch co lde r, m uc h m oreob jec t ive . T h e de ta i ls a re r eco rd ed , wi th no ne o f the ene rg y o f po i se andcounterpoise , of carefu l ly cont ras ted sentences of movement and s t i l lness , ofhighly evocat ive language, of "completeness," that Forster 's f ict ional imaginat iong e n e r a t e d (PI, p p . 314 -15; H D , p p . 169-70)."

R u n n i n g t h r o u g h a ll t h e s e d e s c r i p t i o n s is a s e n s e o f " a t m o s p h e r e " t h a ti t se l f owes to Fors ter ' s responses as he exper ienced Gokul Ashtami a t Dewas.Whi le m uc h of th is "a tm osp he re" has bee n sugges ted in the pre ced ing accou ntof th e festival, a few significant facets sho uld be not ed se pa rate ly. T h e festival

is cha rac ter iz ed pr imar i ly by noise , re feren ces to the con t inua l d in oc cu rr in gf requen t ly in The Hill . . . "T h e no i se was too m uc h a t fi r s t, " wro te Fo rs t e r(HD, p . 159) . I t "was so app a l l ing" wi th conchs sou nd ing , ch i ld re n p lay ing ,off ic ia ls shout ing , bands p laying , groups s inging: "Noise , I need hardly add, nevers t o p p e d t h e g r e a t h o r n b r a y e d , t h e c y m b a l s c l a s h e d , t h e h a r m o n i u m a n ddrums d id the i r bes t , " wh i l e e l ephan t s be l lowed and bands p layed (HD, pp .164-65). Such detai ls are ini t ial ly reduced to gerunds in A Passage . . .: "T h ebray ing ban gin g cro on ing me l ted in to a s ingle mass which t ra iled ro u n d th e pa lace"(p. 284) , the absence of commas wi th in the ser ies of gerunds recrea t ing the "mass"of noise The Hill .. . on ly descr ibes . La ter in the no vel , cym bals an d d ru m s

are individual ly identif ied (p. 284), while the sou nd s acc om pa ny ing th e Bir thr e c a l l t h o s e i n t h e l e t t e r s a t t h e s a m e m o m e n t : " T h e r e n d i n g n o t e o f t h econch bro ke for th , fo llowed by the t ru m pe t in g of e lep han ts . . . an d c langinga n d s h o u t s " (PI, p . 287) . W ha t the nove l do es add , to i ts g re a t a dv an tag e ,a r e t h e r u m b l e s a n d c l a p s o f t h u n d e r. T h e p e o p l e , t o o , p r o d u c e s im i l a reffec ts in bo th wo rks . "On ly one th in g is bea ut i fu l , " says Th e H ill . . . , " theexp ressio n on the faces of the peo ple as they bow to the sh rin e. . . . O n ecan see f rom the f aces o f the peop le tha t ido la t ry touches someth ing ve rydeep in the i r hear ts" (HD, pp. 160-61). When the vi l lagers in the novel adorethe s i lver image, "a most beaut i fu l and radiant express ion [comes] in to the i r

faces, a bea uty in which the re [ is] no th in g pe rso na l" (p. 28 4). In The H l...,

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Fo rs ter ten ta t ive ly ju d g e d the re l ig ious fervor of the devotee s to be c lose to"ord inar y mu n d an e in toxica tion . I supp ose tha t if you be l ieve you r dru nk en es sproc eed s from G od it becom es m ore enjoyable . Yet I am very m uc h m ud dle di n m y o w n m i n d a b o u t it a ll , f o r H . H . h a s w h a t o n e u n d e r s t a n d s b y t h er e l i g i o u s s e n s e " (HD, p . 1 6 0) . T h e c o m m e n t r e c u r s i n t h e n o v e l , F o r s t e r

inc lud ing h i s puzz lemen t pa ren the t i ca l ly : "They d id no t one th ing which thenon-Hindu would fee l dramat ica l ly correc t ; d i i s approaching t r iumph of India wasa mu d d le (as we cal l i t ), a frustra t ion of reaso n a nd for m " (PI, pp . 284-85) .In teres t ingly, the "muddle ," ear l ie r a qual i ty of the author ' s response , i s herea lso ma de ch arac ter i s tic of the objec tive event . T h e copula accom pl ishes thet r ans fe r even as the pa r en the s i s ma in ta ins the pe r spec t ive o f the pe rce ive r,he re fittingly gene ra l ized by the p lura l pr on ou n. We are once again pre sen tedan instance of ar t is t ic "completeness."

A c o m p a r a t i v e s t u d y o f A Passage To India a n d T he Hill of Devi reveals

m uc h , th en , co nc e rn ing Fors t e r ' s a r t is t ic r ew ork ing o f sourc e ma te r i a l s . Indoing so, however, i t a lso suggests a posi t ion relat ive to the place of Hinduismin th e novel . Re cen t cr it ic ism is incl ined to hold th at while Forster int en de dto present Hinduism pos i t ive ly, he tempered h is perspect ive rea l iz ing , perhaps ,tha t the re l ig ion could not offer an easy so lu t ion . This paper has indica tedhow Fors ter, wr i t ing A Passage To India f requently caught die tone, essential lyi ronic d iough of ten admir ing , of the descr ip t ions of The Hill of Devi. W h e r e a sone might hold tha t h is memories d ic ta ted th is a t t i tude to the novel i s t , wehav e seen how Fo rs ter c learly con t ro ls h is m ater ia ls of ch ara c te r and eve nt ,ton e an d ju dg m en t . I t seems more than like ly, then , tha t the t one , de te rminedbu t no t necessa r i ly d ic t a t ed by the even t s and even vocabu la ry o f h i s ownrecords, was buil t del iberately into the fabric of the novel , certainly of "Temple."Such a posi t ion wil l not explain the ambivalence; i t may, however, help us toun de rs t an d i t a l itde be t te r.

N O T E S

See Alfred Borrello, ed., E. M. Forster: An Annotated Bibliography of Secondary Materials (MetucN.J.: The Scarecrow Press, 1973).

2For the broader influences see, for instance, Wilfred Stone, The Cave and the Mountain (Stanford:Stanford University Press, 1966), pp. 314n, 327n, or the most recent account in Benita Parry,Delusions and Discoveries: Studies on India and the British Imagination, 1880-1930 (London: The PePress, 1972), pp. 260ff Of particular interest are Patricia A. Morley, E. M. Forster's Temple:Eclectic or Visionary? University of Toronto Quarterly, 39 (April, 1970), 229-241, and June PerryLevine, Creation and Criticism: A Passage To India (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1971),Chs. 2 and 3. See also Brander and Shusterman, cited below, for other details.

'Laurence Brander, E. M. Forster: A Critical Study (Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press, 1968),p. 38 and the chapter on the novel.

4A11 citations, incorporated into the text, are from E. M. Frster, A Passage To India (New York:Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., 1952), hereafter HD, and E. M. Forster, The Hill of Devi (NewYork: Harcourt, Brace World, Inc., 1953), hereafter PI.

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5For some other views on this matter, see David Shusterman , The Curious Case of ProfessorGodbole: A Passage To India Re-Examined, PMLA, 76 (Sept. 1961), 426-35, rpt. in Perspectives onE. M. Forster s A Passage To India: A Collection of Critical Essays, ed. V. A. Shahane (New York:Barnes and Noble, 1968), pp. 91-100; W agner C. Roland, The Excremental and the spiritual inA Passage to India, MLQ , 31 (1970 ), 35 9- 71 ; Michael Spe ncer , Hinduism in E. M. Forster'sA Passage To India, Journal of Asian Studies, 27 ; (Feb. 1968), 281-9 5; and M orley, cited above.Morley finds the tone . . . no ticeably different in the novel, a calm objectivity displacingthe facetious note of the letters, though small touches . . . reveal that Forster's admirationfor Hinduism is tempered and moderate (pp. 232 -33). I believe the original tone to be rathermore persistent than these comments imply, and that Forster built into Temple his fascinationwith, facetiousness towards and, at times, bewilderment before Hinduism.

The cryptic Tukaram of the chant (P I p. 284) is mentioned in The Hill .. (p. 178), but in aneditorial comment, not in a letter.

'Levine, Creation and C riticism, presents these and other similarities.

Levine, p. 93 , notes that the five chapters that make up the conclud ing section, 'Tem ple,'are not, with one ex ception, worked over much. Th is smoo thness is probably the outcome of

Forster's relying on his letters and journal entries for the Gokul Ashtami Festival, which comprisesa good deal of 'Temple.' Th e exception, the pages Forster labored over longest, is that part ofChapter 36 which records the meeting between Aziz and Mrs. Moore's son Ralph.

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