Colonialism
On one level, A Passage to India is an in-depth description of daily life in India under
British rule.The British "Raj" (its colonial empire in India) lasted from 1858 to 1947. The prevailing attitude behind colonialism was that of the "white man's burden" (in
Rudyard Kipling's phrase)--that it was the moral duty of Europeans to "civilize"
other nations.He never goes so far as to advocate outright Indian rebellion, but he does
show how the colonial system is inherently flawed.