A Passage to India (AmazonClassics Edition) characters

First appears in chapter 2

A young Muslim doctor in Chandrapore. He is sociable, impulsive, proud of his culture, and painfully alert to the contempt shown by British officials. Although he doubts that Indians and English people can meet as equals under colonial rule, he remains eager for personal friendship.

First appears in chapter 2

An older English visitor and the mother of Ronny Heaslop. Newly arrived in India, she enters a mosque without prejudice and treats Aziz with an instinctive courtesy that immediately distinguishes her from the colonial society around her.

First appears in chapter 3

A young Englishwoman visiting Chandrapore with Mrs. Moore. She is considering marriage to Ronny Heaslop and says that she wants to see the country beyond the insulated routines of the British club.

First appears in chapter 6

The English principal of the government college in Chandrapore. Independent-minded and informal, he dislikes the racial barriers maintained by most British residents and is willing to meet Indians as individuals.

First appears in chapter 3

Mrs. Moore's son, the city magistrate at Chandrapore and Adela's prospective husband. His official duties and loyalty to the Anglo-Indian establishment have made him guarded, conventional, and dismissive toward the Indians he governs.

First appears in chapter 7

A Hindu Brahmin and professor at Fielding's college. Gentle, courteous, and spiritually absorbed, he answers questions indirectly and regards human events within a religious vision much broader than the political divisions of Chandrapore.

First appears in chapter 2

Aziz's friend and relative by marriage, a respected lawyer who hosts him at home. He is hospitable and thoughtful, though his experience of British rule makes him skeptical about lasting friendship between English and Indian people.

First appears in chapter 2

A lawyer and friend of Aziz who argues forcefully about the arrogance of British officials. Suspicious and quick to anger, he voices the resentment that colonial humiliations have produced among Chandrapore's educated Indians.

First appears in chapter 3

The senior British administrator in Chandrapore. He agrees to arrange a social gathering for the visitors but approaches Indians through the formal hierarchy of colonial authority rather than as potential equals.

First appears in chapter 5

A wealthy Indian landowner loyal to the British administration. Urbane and generous, he lends his car to Ronny's party and tries to preserve dignity while moving between Indian society and the colonial establishment.

First appears in chapter 17

The district superintendent of police. Cultivated in manner but committed to racial theories about Indian behavior, he takes charge when the Marabar expedition becomes a criminal case.

First appears in chapter 8

A confident young Englishwoman employed by an Indian royal family. She drives with an independence unusual in the British community and appears unexpectedly during the confused return from the Marabar Hills.

First appears in chapter 36

Mrs. Moore's younger son. He comes to the princely state of Mau with Fielding and meets Aziz during the Hindu festival, approaching him with a vulnerability and openness that recall his mother.