In everyday life, people hide the truth in order to be polite and not hurt others. White lies are constantly being spoken in order to not hurt anyone. In A Passage to India, by E. M. Forster, the way how truth is masked by civility is a central theme. People are constantly hiding the truth in their quest to be civil. However, one of the central ideas in the book, the Marabar caves, uncovers the real truth, and the linguistic mask is broken. Many characters are affected by the unmasking in different ways. The caves expose how that throughout the book, civility masks the truth, which is best left masked.

Everyone in the world of Forster shows extreme civility. People constantly show civility to one another in order to not hurt anyone. Aziz, throughout the book, subtly shows his hatred of the British, yet he always remains civil...