India in English literature : reading Kim (1901), A Passage to India (1924) and Midnight’s Children (1981)

Abstract

The concept of identity is complex and complicated, especially in people of those countries which once were colonized. People of such countries have to go through three levels in the development of their national and cultural identity. This thesis focuses only on India. This thesis looks at first, the search of national identity of an individual (both colonizers and colonized) during and after the colonial period; second, the biased and stereotypical representation of the Indian culture and education; third, the problems that were created by these prejudices which kept intact the distance between colonizers and colonized; fourth, the conflicts within post- colonial nations and societies and conflicts and differences which define Indian politics. Besides, this thesis deals with three novels by three different authors. Each of them has tried to portray the crisis of an individual in terms of his national identity in different ways. They have also associated the problems faced in a country during and after colonization. These books are- first, Kim by Rudyard Kipling (1901); second, A Passage to India by E. M. Forster (1924) and third, Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie (1981).