a passage to india.

A Passage to India introduces three Indian characters: Mahmoud Ali, Hamidullah, and Aziz. Dinner gatherings often lead to the question “as to whether or not it is possible to be friends with an Englishman” While Mahmoud Ali rejects the idea of colonial friendship altogether, Hamidullah, who has been to England before has a more complex view of the question asserting “I . . . contend that it is possible in England,” conceding that it is difficult to maintain any genuine friendship with the English in India but casual friendships that lack depth are possible. Genuine friendships are problematic because one is the oppressor and the other is the oppressed. The friendship cannot exist in a vacuum. English and Indian society will not condone such a friendship.