In The Souls of Black People, WEB Du Bois illustrates a very touching image of a color line separating the two races in his society. He introduces the term double consciousness to explain how African Americans see themselves, not as individuals but as a collective group; a perception made through the eyes of the society in which they lived. This perception produces what Du Bois calls the “duality” of the American Negro. It is this sense of "always looking at oneself through the eyes of others, of measuring one's soul with the yardstick of a world that looks on with amused contempt and pity". (Du Bois 3). The notion of double consciousness not only addresses African Americans but humanity as a whole. E. M. Forster's novel A Passage to India illustrates and complicates Dubois's notion of double consciousness. Through the racial misconceptions and cultural pretensions that plague interactions between British and Indians, we see an uncertainty that resides in each individual's sense of identity. Du Bois' theory of double consciousness is also complicated in this novel because it leaves no room for those individuals who do not fit his rigid black and white model. There is no gray area. Each individual can identify as part of a group on opposite sides of the veil. Can a human being exist in society as an individual or is his identity defined only by the group he associates with? Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Double consciousness refers to the idea that we see ourselves through the eyes of others. Du Bois uses this term to describe the confusion that exists between social standards and everyday experience for blacks in this country. Throughout the book it is evident that Du Bois's idea of ​​double consciousness has two manifestations. The first is the power that white stereotypes have over black thinking. He argues that despite having knowledge of the truth, African Americans continue to force themselves into a context of misrepresentation used to define their people. By submitting to these paradigms, blacks allow themselves to remain the inferior race. The second demonstration of double consciousness is the racism that has excluded African Americans from the mainstream of society. Black people struggled to identify themselves, and for them the internal conflict stemmed from being African and American at the same time. The question of authenticity arose in Du Bois's essay on "The Preservation of the Races," where he says: No Negro who has seriously reflected on the situation of his people in America has failed, at some time in his life, to find himself in these conditions. crossroads; at a certain point he failed to ask himself: what am I, after all? Am I American or am I black? Can I be both? Or is it my duty to cease being a Negro as soon as possible and become an American? If I engage as a Negro, am I not perpetuating the very rift that threatens and separates white and black America? Isn't my only possible practical goal the submission of everything black in me to the American? (Du Bois 233). Although they were originally from America, they were not considered Americans because their roots lay in Africa. They were thought to be foreign and separate from the rest of the population, and that is how they soon began to see themselves. A Passage to India is a realistic documentation of the attitudes that the British colonists held towards the native Indians, whom they controlled. Through the exploration of Anglo-Indian relations, Forster attempts to illustrate how one is viewed not based on one's status but on one's racial or cultural background. In the novel, Dr. Aziz embodies Forster's notion of "confusion"of India. Dr. Aziz struggles to identify with a distinct group of individuals. Even though his racial and cultural background characterizes him as Indian, it is not so believe that he can truly relate to this group because he is an exception. His higher education allows him to want to be more like the English, who refuse to accept him as anything other than Indian. Throughout the novel, the English continue to look beyond Aziz's title and education and see him solely as "one of the Indians", whom they describe as a group of selfish and ignorant individuals. A prominent example of this perception is when Dr. Aziz is accused of sexually assaulting Miss Questad. Through his vivid description of the accused crime and the British reaction to the situation, Forster satirizes the British overreaction as not only foolish, but also dangerously based on sentiment rather than truth. Many Englishmen interpreted the assault on Adela Questad as an attack by all Indians on English womanhood. The British regarded the isolated incident as a threat to the British Empire itself. Their account of the assault is devoid of any acknowledgment or sympathetic understanding of Aziz's honorable character. They simply see the situation as a revelation of the Indians' criminal tendencies. This idea is described through McBryde's theory behind assault. “All unfortunate natives are criminals at heart, for the simple reason that they live south of 30 degrees latitude. they have not the slightest chance: we would be like them if we settled here” (Forster 184). McBryde explains that Indians have criminal tendencies due to the climate, so their behavior is innate and justified. Dr. Aziz suffers from Du Bois's notion of double consciousness. Aziz knows he is different but allows himself to be a slave to the stereotypes that come with being Indian. He struggles to define himself as an individual in a society that sees him simply as a member of a larger group. Because he knows that he is seen as a “typical Indian” in the eyes of the English, he feels the need to prove that he is better than his colleagues, but finds it difficult to do so. Aziz's numerous acts of generosity are often perceived as fraudulent. In Chapter VIII, Aziz lends Fielding his last collar button to replace the broken one. Although Forster makes it clear that Aziz's unfastened collar was a demonstration of his act of generosity towards Mr. Fielding, Ronny points out that the unscrupulous look is emblematic of the general laziness of the Indians. “Aziz was exquisitely dressed, from tie clip to spats, but he had forgotten the back button on his collar, and there was Indian all over it: inattention to detail; the fundamental slowness that reveals race” (Forster 87) Despite his friendship with Aziz, Fielding is still found making generalizations about Indians based on one incident. Although Aziz is a character who illustrates a person's constant struggle with double consciousness, there are many individuals in the novel that Du Bois' theory does not take into account. Dubois argues that to be black was to be deprived of “true self-awareness,” as blacks saw themselves only through the generalized contempt of white America. This idea can be linked to the way Indians perceived themselves through the eyes of their superiors, the English. While this may be true for many individuals in the oppressed group, there are some who are truly capable of achieving self-awareness. In his argument, Du Bois leaves no room for these self-assured individuals. In A Passage to Mr. Fielding is an example of someone who does not struggle with double consciousness, but the intern is able to, 1965.