Marabar Caves

Exterior of the real Barabar Caves in 1870; Lomas Rishi Cave and (at left) Sudama cave

The Marabar Caves are fictional caves in the novel A Passage to India and the film of the same name. The caves are based on the real life Barabar Caves located in the Jehanabad District of Bihar, India. They serve as an important plot location and motif in the novel. Key features of the caves are the glass-smooth walls and a peculiar resonant echo magnifying any sound made in the caves. E M Forster chose the caves to set a turning point in the novel. Not just for Adela, but also for Mrs Moore, Cyril Fielding and Dr Aziz the caves mark a turning point in the novel and their lives. The caves are significant because they mark the hollowness in the lives of the four main characters. None of them is getting what he wants and is trying to find a balance in life amid expanding chaos.

Relevance in the novel

The main characters Mrs. Moore, Adela Quested, and Dr. Aziz are in a large group that journeys to the Marabar Caves. During the tour of the caves Adela, Dr. Aziz, and a local guide carry on separately from the group. Adela privately questions her love for Ronny, a British Civil Magistrate in Chandrapore. Assuming that the Muslim Dr. Aziz has many wives, she asks him about love. Rattled by the question, as his only wife has died, leaving two sons and a daughter, Dr. Aziz takes temporary leave of her to have a cigarette. Adela is attracted to him, though the feeling is not mutual. They realise simultaneously that a relationship is out of the question. When Adela enters a cave, her claustrophobia, as well as what some critics have assumed is a sexual desire for Aziz, and the consequent guilt over her lack of feeling for Ronny, combine to overwhelm her. She flees the caves down a steep incline and is pierced and lacerated by strongly thorned plants along the way. Coincidentally, a fellow Englishwoman is at the bottom of the slope with a car and swiftly returns Adela to Chandrapore where she lodges a charge of molestation against Dr. Aziz. A trial ensues which is central to the novel's development of the cultural biases and conflicts during the British occupation of India. Later, during the trial, Adela overcomes the echo that has followed her from the caves and accepts her mistake. Aziz is released but he starts hating the British. The caves incident leads to a drift between these characters and Aziz starts believing he has been cheated by Fielding and Adela. He wants Adela to pay for the troubles she caused but Fielding persuades him to not to harass the poor girl further who made the mistake out of fear and confusion. This makes Aziz and other Muslims suspect Fielding and Adela and if they are in a relationship.

Mystery of the caves

What really happened inside those caves remains a mystery and no one discovers who really did the mischief. Aziz and Fielding suspect it was the guide but nothing is proved. The caves are central to both the theme and the structure of the novel and add meaning to its plot. They also give the novel a definite tone. Forster calls India a muddle and uses the caves to explain the sense of mystery and muddle enveloping India. The caves remain mysterious and the echo haunts both Mrs Moore and Adela. The confusion born inside the caves destroys the equilibrium in people's personal lives and relationships. Mrs Moore dies soon after the incident on her way back to England. Aziz is more suspicious of the English including his friend Fielding and Adela Quested. He rejects the British to find solace among his own people and society. Marabar Caves and the myths born of them represent a unique side of the Indian culture and how it keeps people within their respective compartments. The caves also signify a starting point for the rising nationalism in India and the decline of the British empire. The defeat of the British during the trial also signifies the dying influence of the British in India and its fast approaching freedom. The caves also symbolize the cosmic forces that remain prominent throughout the novel till the end.