is represented wholly by the standards and beliefs of that culture. In contrast, Aziz would not exists if he were not Indian, representing wholly the standards and beliefs of that culture. Forster implies that the division, the Other, is what makes an individual who they are. Spirituality is integral to that existence.The Indian people are further represented in the English's eyes by the description of India itself. The city, presumably a mark of civilization, is a rotting, festering thing that no English colonialist would consider urbane;... the city of Chandrapore represents nothing extraordinary. Edged rather than washed by the river Ganges, it trails for a couple of miles along the bank, scarcely distinguishable from the rubbish it deposits so freely... The streets are mean, the temples ineffective, and though a few fine houses exist they are hidden away in gardens or down alleys whose filth deters all by the invited guest. Chandrapore was never large or beautiful... nor was it ever democratic. The very wood seems made of mud, the inhabitants of mud moving... Houses do fall, people are drowned and left rotting... (p. 29)Chandrapore is implicitly compared to London, who sits on the Themes (not the Ganges) and thrives, not "rots". The people of Chandrapore are made to seem a part of the city's structure. They are "mud moving". In essence, the people are the city, or conversely and for this paper's purpose, the city is the people. If London is civilization (beautiful and structured), then its inhabitants are the same. Chandrapore is ugly and chaotic. India is outwardly offensive and unpolished, visibly unspiritual and crude. The only part of India that is supposedly worthwhile, or "extraordinary" (p. 29) (according to the English) are the Marabar Caves. India itself is linked directly to Indian spirituality. This is seen in Aziz's attitude towards his country and his faith;Here was Islam his own country, more than a faith, more than a...
