In contrast to the privacy of England, "India contains none, and consequently the conventions have greater force- (A Passage to India 49). Consequently, the Anglo-Indians are markedly more cautious about individual expression than their counterparts in England. This magnification is made abundantly clear again and again throughout the novel. The Anglo-Indian characters are excessively preoccupied with appearance and create false images of themselves. They hide beneath their attire and by create fictious representations of themselves, as an actor would in a play, attempting to "reproduce their own attitude to life upon the stage, and to dress up as the middle-class English people they actually were- (40). Forster suggests that individually the British are intelligent, compassionate people, but society diminishes there individual import. It is not the British people but "the machine that is wrong- ("Notes on the English Character- 15). This theme is perhaps best epitomized in a reference to some of the racist policies exhibited by the Chandrapore Club, where Forster claims "Individually it knew better; as a club it declined to change- (A Passage to India 65). Forster treats the club as a microcosm of the entire English society, thereby reinforcing this claim.
With the introduction of the British imperialists at the Chandrapore Club, as the guests prepare for the Bridge Party, we immediately witness many of these racist, callous sentiments towards the Indians. Chapter Two is riddled with bigoted language and hateful remarks, most notably in Mrs. Callendar's remark that "the kindest thing one can do to a native is to let him die- (27). Ronny Heaslop exemplifies the colonial bureaucratic mindset that dominates the English elite. He suspects all Indians of wrongdoing and consistently scolds his mother for deeming Indians worthy of her company. Forster, however implies that Ronny is not completely to blame for his behavior.
