Beyond the Epic: The Life and Films of David Lean

16. Darkness at Noon: A Passage to India

The฀Peak฀Years฀in฀Hollywood 404 engaged฀to฀tutor฀a฀young฀Indian,฀Syed฀Ross฀Masood,฀in฀Latin.฀They฀had฀an฀ intimate฀relationship,฀but฀one฀that฀never฀became฀sexual. After฀publishing฀Howard’s฀End,฀his฀most฀acclaimed฀novel฀up฀to฀that฀ time,฀Forster฀made฀his฀first฀trip฀to฀India฀from฀the฀fall฀of฀1912฀to฀the฀spring฀ of฀1913.฀He฀of฀course฀visited฀Masood,฀who฀had฀returned฀to฀India฀and฀become ฀a฀barrister,฀in฀Bankipore,฀which฀would฀serve฀as฀the฀model฀of฀Forster’s฀ fictional฀Chandrapore฀in฀Passage.฀He฀began฀gathering฀material฀for฀Passage;฀ in฀fact,฀he฀would฀partly฀base฀Dr.฀Aziz฀in฀the฀novel฀on฀Masood,฀though฀Aziz฀ is฀a฀physician฀and฀Masood฀was฀a฀lawyer.฀He฀ultimately฀dedicated฀the฀novel฀to฀ Masood.2 The฀incident฀that฀forms฀the฀spine฀of฀the฀novel฀centers฀on฀an฀Englishwoman฀ who,฀while฀visiting฀her฀British฀fiancé฀in฀India,฀accuses฀an฀Indian฀of฀attacking฀ her฀during฀a฀tour฀of฀some฀caves.฀Forster฀very฀likely฀found฀the฀germ฀of฀the฀attempted ฀assault฀in฀an฀actual฀incident฀that฀occurred฀in฀the฀spring฀of฀1913,฀just฀ before฀he฀left฀India.฀A฀Miss฀Wildman,฀an฀English฀nurse,฀charged฀that฀she฀was฀ drugged฀and฀robbed฀while฀traveling฀on฀an฀Indian฀railway฀train.฀“The฀documents ฀in฀the฀case฀made฀their฀way฀to฀the฀British฀Viceroy,฀by฀which฀time฀she฀had฀ withdrawn฀the฀charge.”3 ฀Forster฀employed฀a฀similar฀but฀far฀more฀serious฀situation ฀involving฀an฀Englishwoman฀in฀India฀to฀fuel฀the฀plot฀of฀his฀book. During฀World฀War฀I,฀Forster฀worked฀as฀a฀volunteer฀for฀the฀Red฀Cross฀in฀ Alexandria,฀Egypt,฀where฀he฀pursued฀a฀torrid฀love฀affair฀with฀Mohammed฀el฀ Adl,฀a฀young฀trolley฀car฀conductor.฀Forster฀believed฀that฀their฀liaison฀implicitly ฀demonstrated฀how฀he฀had฀“broken฀through฀the฀barriers฀of฀class฀and฀ color”—a฀theme฀that฀permeates฀Passage.4 Forster฀returned฀home฀after฀the฀war฀in฀1919฀and฀continued฀writing฀and฀ teaching.฀He฀was฀shocked฀to฀learn฀of฀the฀Amritsar฀massacre฀in฀India฀on฀April฀ 13,฀1919,฀when฀General฀Reginald฀Dyer฀ordered฀English฀troops฀to฀slaughter฀ an฀unarmed฀crowd฀of฀peaceful฀demonstrators.฀The฀British฀killed฀379฀Indian฀ citizens฀and฀wounded฀over฀1,000.฀The฀massacre฀is฀graphically฀portrayed฀in฀ Richard฀Attenborough’s฀film฀Gandhi฀(1982). Tripthi฀Pilai,฀a฀native฀of฀India฀living฀in฀Chicago,฀has฀told฀me฀in฀conversation ฀that,฀when฀Forster฀made฀his฀second฀visit฀to฀India฀in฀1921,฀he฀noted฀the฀ festering฀resentments฀between฀the฀Indians฀and฀the฀British,฀which฀were฀the฀ result฀primarily฀of฀the฀Amritsar฀massacre.฀He฀realized฀that฀Passage฀was฀going฀ to฀have฀to฀be฀a฀darker฀novel฀than฀he฀had฀originally฀intended.฀Forster฀renewed฀ his฀friendship฀with฀Masood฀while฀in฀India฀and฀asked฀Masood฀to฀check฀the฀ trial฀scenes฀in฀his฀manuscript฀for฀the฀accuracy฀of฀the฀courtroom฀procedures฀ that฀he฀depicted.฀Forster฀went฀back฀to฀England฀with฀his฀book฀still฀unfinished. It฀was฀around฀this฀time฀that฀Forster฀met฀T.฀E.฀Lawrence—whom฀he฀ described฀as฀a฀short,฀fair-haired฀boy—through฀a฀mutual฀friend฀in฀London,฀ LeanChap16B.indd 404 9/21/06 3:00:24 PM Darkness฀at฀Noon 405 and฀they฀became฀friends.฀Lawrence฀was฀toiling฀on฀Seven฀Pillars฀of฀Wisdom.฀He฀ duly฀allowed฀Forster฀to฀borrow฀an฀early฀draft฀of฀the฀text฀in฀December฀1923,฀ and฀Forster฀was฀astonished฀by฀it.฀He฀wrote฀Lawrence฀on฀February฀20,฀1924,฀ praising฀the฀vigor฀and฀largeness฀of฀vision฀of฀Lawrence’s฀magnum฀opus:฀“You฀ will฀never฀show฀your฀book฀to฀anyone฀who฀will฀like฀it฀more฀than฀I฀do.”5 Forster฀was฀so฀taken฀with฀Lawrence’s฀book฀that฀he฀was฀inspired฀to฀finish฀ off฀the฀final฀chapters฀of฀Passage฀with฀renewed฀energy.฀Soon฀after,฀he฀visited฀ Lawrence,฀who฀was฀nine฀years฀his฀junior,฀at฀Clouds฀Hill.฀The฀two฀formed฀a฀ platonic฀ relationship,฀ and฀ their฀ friendship฀ continued฀ to฀ prosper฀ over฀ the฀ years.฀ In฀ fact,฀ Forster฀ was฀ preparing฀ to฀ pay฀ another฀ visit฀ to฀ Lawrence฀ at฀ Clouds฀Hill฀when฀he฀received฀word฀of฀his฀death. A฀Passage฀to฀India฀was฀published฀on฀June฀6,฀1924,฀to฀critical฀acclamation ฀and฀huge฀sales฀on฀both฀sides฀of฀the฀Atlantic.฀The฀novel’s฀title฀comes฀ from฀Walt฀Whitman’s฀optimistic฀“Passage฀to฀India,”฀which฀was฀published฀for฀ the฀first฀time฀in฀the฀1872฀edition฀of฀Leaves฀of฀Grass.฀Whitman฀hailed฀the฀ building฀of฀the฀Suez฀Canal฀because฀it฀made฀possible฀a฀new฀trade฀route฀to฀ India.฀He฀thus฀saw฀the฀canal฀as฀a฀symbol฀of฀the฀unity฀between฀peoples฀that฀ would,฀he฀believed...