Summary: Chapter I
The city of Chandrapore, apart from the nearby Marabar
Caves, is unextraordinary. The small, dirty city sits next to the
River Ganges. Slightly inland from the city, near the railway station,
lie the plain, sensible buildings of the British colonials. From
the vantage point of these buildings, Chandrapore appears lovely
because its unattractive parts are obscured by tropical vegetation.
Newcomers, in order to lose their romantic image of the city, must
be driven down to the city itself. The British buildings and the
rest of Chandrapore are connected only by the Indian sky. The sky
dominates the whole landscape, except for the Marabar Hills, which
contain the only extraordinary part of Chandrapore—the Marabar Caves.
Summary: Chapter II
Dr. Aziz, an Indian Muslim, arrives late to his friend
Hamidullah’s house, where Hamidullah and Mahmoud Ali are engaged
in a debate over whether it is possible for an Indian and an Englishman to
be friends. Hamidullah, who studied at Cambridge when he was young,
contends that such a cross-cultural friendship is possible in England.
The men agree that Englishmen in India all become insufferable within
two years and all Englishwomen within six months. Aziz prefers to
happily ignore the English.
Hamidullah takes Aziz behind the purdah (the screen that
separates women from public interaction) to chat with his wife.
Hamidullah’s wife scolds Aziz for not having remarried after the
death of his wife. Aziz, however, is happy with his life, and sees
his three children at his mother-in-law’s house often.
The men sit down to dinner along with Mohammed Latif,
a poor, lazy relative of Hamidullah. Aziz recites poetry for the
men, and they listen happily, feeling momentarily that India is
one. Poetry in India is a public event.
During dinner, Aziz receives a summons from his superior,
Major Callendar, the civil surgeon. Annoyed, Aziz bicycles away
to Callendar’s bungalow. When Aziz’s bicycle tire deflates, he hires
a tonga (a small pony-drawn vehicle) and finally arrives at Callendar’s
house to find that the major has gone and left no message. Furthermore,
as Aziz is speaking with a servant on the porch, Mrs. Callendar
and her friend Mrs. Lesley rudely take Aziz’s hired tonga for their
own use.
Aziz decides to walk home. On the way, he stops at his
favorite mosque. To Aziz, the mosque, with its beautiful architecture,
is a symbol of the truth of Islam and love. Aziz imagines building
his own mosque with an inscription for his tomb addressing “those who
have secretly understood my heart.”
