A Passage to India Chapter 20

At the club, people address their concerns about the safety of women and children in town. This discussion fuels the men in the club and motivates them to take action. "They had started speaking of women and children, that phrase that exempts the male from sanity when it has been repeated a few times." Chapter 20, pg. 203

Topic Tracking: Women 5

Turton talks the crowd out of battling against the Indians. Turton, Lesley, Callendar, and others try to assign blame to the incident in the caves and go as far as accusing Godbole of having been bribed to make Fielding late and miss the train to Marabar. Ronny enters the room. His compatriots have already martyred him. Everyone rises out of respect as he walks into the meeting room, except for Fielding, who does not want to betray Aziz. "But every humane act in the East is tainted with officialism, and while honoring him they condemned Aziz and India." Chapter 20, pg. 208

Fielding's snubbing of Ronny catches the attention of the officials in the room, but he does not care. Fielding announces that if Aziz is found guilty, he will resign from his post as Principal and leave India. He also announces his resignation from the club. Turton is furious and kicks Fielding out of the club.