Discuss the significance of Fielding’s tea-party in A Passage to India.
Ans. The Bridge Party offered by the British officialdom is a total
failure but the tea-party of Fielding is a grand success. Perhaps realizing
the cold behaviour and indifference of the British officialdom at the
‘Bridge Party’ to the Indians, Fielding, a man of a good soul, along with
Mrs. Moore and Adela, make genuine efforts to meet and talk to them
courteously. Mr. Fielding IS the only Englishman who feels almost at
home at the bridge Party’. Finding the two new ladies, (Mrs. Moore end
Adela Quested) from England to be quite friendly towards the Indians,
he himself takes an opportunity to invite them to a tea-party at his
residence. He tells the two ladies that he would invite a few more pv0Ple
so that they would be able radians agait•-
Fielding is a liberal, broad-minded man who has traveled widely
and does not fit the narrow world of the Anglo-Indian club.
Despite some cultural misunderstandings, Fielding and Aziz take to
each other immediately. When he is invited to the tea-party, he has touched the true courtesy of the Englishman.
is the first to arrive at the tea-party. When they start talking,
s impulsiveness and Fielding’s goodwill dissolve all the racial
Idrriers between them and a strong friendship develops between the
two.
After the arrival of Mrs. Moore and Adela, the tea-party becomes
very enjoyable. It is an unconventional party, where Aziz is in his full
glory. He talks widely about the past glory of the Muslims, their,
architecture and a host of other subjects. The ladies are highly
pleased with Aziz’s enthusiasm and simple directness. Adela is so
much infected that unconsciously she breaks the news that she has
decided not to marry such a bureaucrat as Ronny Heaslop.
Adela asks him to describe the caves,
never been there himself and cannot do so. The group then
encourages the mysterious Professor Godbole to speak about them
but he seems strangely unwilling to. Suddenly Ronny Heaslop arrives
to pick up Adela and Mrs. Moore. With typical Anglo-Indian
snobbishness he coldly cuts Aziz and the Professor, thereby
thoroughly puncturing the warm mood on the party. The party
breaks up in some discord and bad temper.
To sum up, the tea-party of Fielding is significant in several
respects. It restores what was lost in the ‘Bridge party—the
understanding and friendship between the English and the Indians.
A Passage to India A Passage to India A Passage to India A Passage to India A Passage to India A Passage to India
