Mysticism in Forester's A Passage to India The figure of Mrs Moore, and the question of what happened to her in the extraordinary Marabar Caves, has fascinated critics for decades. The issue has absorbed attention to a degree that does not match the secondary role that Mrs. Moore plays in the plot of A Passage to India. Apparently he is a secondary character, but many of the novel's unresolved problems seem concentrated in his experience. Mrs. Moore arrives in India as a sympathetic figure and leaves numb and uncaring, transformed beyond recognition by the mysterious voice of the Marabar. The purposely inexplicable question of what spoke to her in the cave has intrigued virtually all scholars who have written about this novel, each of whom has provided their own interpretation of the event. Some claim that an ancient evil force dwelt in the caves, while others suggest that Mrs. Moore achieved a life-changing Hindu insight. Indeed, there are substantial indications that Mrs. Moore achieved the primary goal of some branches of Hinduism, fusing the Atman and Brahman (Self and non-Self) into a single indivisible entity, and thus recognizing the one pervasive force that it is the basis of everything. However, no transcendence appears to come from this recognition, as Mrs. Moore is destroyed rather than uplifted by her vision. While his experience deceptively contains elements of a Hindu vision, I believe he ultimately encountered a perverse, sinister, and ultimately empty version. of Hinduism. The truly beautiful complexity of philosophy/religion is diminished by the relentless echo of the cave. It becomes something devoid of depth and meaning, and particularly devoid of... half of the document... rews, 178. WORKS CITED Bradbury, Malcolm, ed. EM Forester: a ride to India. London: Macmillan, 1970.Clarke, Peter B., ed. World Religions: Understanding Living Faiths. London: Reader's Digest, 1993. Crews, Frederick C. "A Passage to India." Bradbury, 165-85.Deussen, Paul. The philosophy of the Upanishads. Trans. Rev. A. S. Geden. New York: Dover, 1966. Forester, E. M. A Passage to India. Ed. Oliver Stallybrass. London: Penguin, 1979. Kermode, Frank. "The unique and tidy product." Bradbury, 216-23.Moody, Phillipa. A critical commentary on EMForester's "A Passage to India". London: Macmillan, 1968. White, Gertrude M. “A Passage to India: Analysis and Reappraisal.” Bradbury, 132-53.Zimmer, Heinrich. Philosophies of India. Bollingen Series XXVI. Ed. Giuseppe Campbell. New Jersey: Princeton UP, 1969.