India, an exotic and incredibly geographically complex subcontinent, was never unified into a single nation until the arrival of the British. The British East India Company easily embraced the native culture and exploited the region for profit. However, when Indians became restive over British exploitation, a peaceful protest arose, but was quelled by the bloody Amritsar massacre, in which "...the romantic India of the eighteenth-century Western imagination was dead and gone.. ." and the rule of the British Empire blocked (Parry 1). *EM Forster, a liberal humanist, decided to write a novel based on the conflict and alien nation of the English in A Passage to India.* An evaluation of the British characters in EM Forster's A Passage to India accurately defines the literary concept of 'foreigners' in a foreign land. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The writing and presentation in A Passage to India allows the novel to possess a polyphonic and symphonic design, ultimately allowing the literary concept of 'strangers in a strange land' to be developed. E.M. Forster actually resided and had the opportunity to experience Indian culture, gaining a first-hand perspective and allowing, "...Forster's portrait of Anglo-Indian rule [to be a] well-observed portrait, from the pen of someone who was intimately familiar with the realities of the Raj ”, thus giving life to the novel (“A Passage to India” 3). Through real experiences and gaining cultural knowledge and understanding of India, this allows Forster the ability to give all characters, regardless of gender or race, a vivid and dynamic personality regarding any topic discussed in the entire novel. Forster's understanding of India then allows for the development of a further polyphonic idea, the separation between East and West. Through observation in the novel itself, one can, “…[discover] that Forster's India is an empty space…its main landmarks, the Mosque, the Caves and the Temple, function mainly as cavities for contain the Western perception of what is missing in the world. East…” reveals another level and depth to the novel (Parry 185). Indeed, in every sense, the Western world, being composed mainly of white Anglo-Saxons and Christians, could not comprehend an Eastern world of Indians, Muslims and Hindus. Fortunately, Forster, having the opportunity to involve the Eastern world, can easily bring out fundamental problems and present them through the narrative of the novel. This symphonic texture gives both cultures the opportunity to see another for the lack of understanding each possesses and also infuses even greater depth into the perspective of both cultures throughout the novel. Finally, Forster masterfully observes, “…perfect relationships, past or future, between Indian and Anglo-Indian men have been damaged,” truly representing a dynamic polyphonic aspect within the novel (Davidis 2). Realizing that the entire relationship between the two cultures had already fallen into sad decadence, Forster throughout the novel acutely creates opinions within the characters that reflect this sense of destruction and deterioration, of both British and Indian cultures. The looming sense of dead relationships and, ultimately, the failure of the two societies to integrate helps Forster add depth and create an incredibly complex and intricate novel. These perspectives and opinions, existing across the complexity of the polyphonic and the symphonic,they allow the novel to further explain the concept of the English as "strangers in a strange land". Throughout the novel, the English seemingly present themselves as aliens, through their actions and concepts, making them truly "strangers in a strange land". This concept can be seen for the first time: “Adela's statement that she wants to see the “real India” implies her awareness of seeing a British India created by the white.powers that be; the statement also reveals, of course, his mistake in believing that there can be one India…” revealing the entire misunderstanding of the English (Davidis 8). Never in the history of India have the people been united under their own power or personal identity, yet the British simply ignore this historical matter. While indeed the British, in a sense, "unified" the country of India, the geography, religions and people are not seen as a collective whole, but as individuals living among others. The British misconception that Indians believe they see themselves as a united group leads to another big problem: arrogance. Ronny creates a perfect example of British arrogance, as “Like the old and equally jaded Callendar, Ronny believes that Indians are, for some inexplicable reason, resistant to the notion of truth,” demonstrating an ironic arrogance (Christensen 13). The English, believing and acting on the fact that their heritage and culture comprises the absolute ways of truth and knowledge, strut around India with notions of racial superiority and lofty attitudes. Ironically, the whole concept of truth reveals a cynical turn towards the English, who are in fact resistant to the idea of ​​truth about their foreignness in India. Instead of realizing or understanding that India belongs to Indians, the British continuously impose their power and regime across India, never grasping the reality that India is not for the British. Unfortunately, this ironic truth sets the stage for “…Fielding, [who] had no roots among his own people. Yet he could not become a sort of Mohammed Latif,” revealing another sad aspect of British alienation (Forster 289). Fielding, a Briton who turns against his own for the good of the Indians, demonstrates how the two cultures cannot even integrate with each other. Once he leaves his people, Fielding literally has nowhere to go. Having grown up in English civilization and culture, he cannot simply discard all those ideals and practices for Indian ways, as he has no roots among Indians. Without being able to rely on or relate to either culture, Fielding becomes isolated, one of a kind. Fielding shows how the English simply cannot unite with the Indians, ultimately demonstrating how the British alienate themselves. All English people believe in morals and ideals that push them further towards the path of isolation, truly developing and revealing the concept that indeed English people are “strangers in a strange land”. The Indian perspective and the views of the English reflect and support the concept of "foreigners in a strange land". From the beginning of the novel, the clear divide between the British and the Indians can be observed by the failure of the bridge party. Because the Turtons host the party, the event is seen as: "[A] British sense of cultural superiority and Indian perceptions of their inferior status in British eyes create such tension and embarrassment that the party is an abject failure", reflecting the concept of superiority complex and revealing the social divide within India (Gaydosik 1). When the British enter India, their entire ego becomes self-inflated, creating themselves as something greater than their own 1).