A Passage to India Book Notes Summary

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Adela stays in the McBrydes' bungalow. She is sun-stroked and Miss Derek and Mrs. McBryde remove cactus thorns that are still on her skin. Adela receives many visitors except from the only person she wants to see: Mrs. Moore. Adela cannot get the echo from the caves out of her head:

"The sound had spouted after her when she escaped, and was going on still like a river that gradually floods the plain. Only Mrs. Moore could drive it back to its source and seal the broken reservoir. Evil was loose...she could hear it entering the lives of others." Chapter 22, pg. 215

Mrs. McBryde and Miss Derek try to revive Adela's spirits by promising to get revenge on the Indians. Ronny checks in on Adela, talking about the trial with her and Mr. McBryde. She cries hysterically even though she hates crying. Ronny shows Adela the letter he received from Fielding, which says that Aziz is innocent. Back at Ronny's bungalow, Mrs. Moore does not get up to greet the couple. Her behavior is very cold to them. Adela takes Mrs. Moore's hands, which causes the old woman to back away from her. Mrs. Moore ignores Adela's excitement to see her and concentrates her attention on her departure from India:

"Her Christian tenderness had gone, or had developed into hardness, a just irritation against the human race; she had taken no interest at the arrest, asked scarcely any questions, and had refused to leave her bed on one awful last night of Mohurram, when an attack was expected on the bungalow." Chapter 22, pg. 221

Topic Tracking: Religion 8

Crying after Mrs. Moore's chilly reception, Adela begins to cry out Aziz's name. She believes she has made a mistake. The echo goes away after saying his name and she asks Ronny if she should give up the trial. Adela believes she heard Mrs. Moore say Aziz was innocent. Mrs. Moore enters the room and says she never said Aziz's name. Adela realizes the letter from Fielding stated this. Mrs. Moore, however, now nonchalantly says that of course Aziz is innocent. Adela tells Mrs. Moore that she has driven the echo away because she does nothing but good. Ronny encourages Adela to go on with the case, even though she considers withdrawing. He also decides he should send his mother out of India since she is of no use to herself or any one else in the country.