Question: What impression of Godbole do you have from your reading of A Passage to India?
Answer: Professor Godbole is a comparatively flat character in A Passage to India. He represents the Hindu religion, which the author apparently presents as more capable than Christianity of reconciling the different races in India. He is described as an elderly man with a grey moustache, grey-blue eyes, and a fair complexion. He usually stands with downcast eyes and folded hands, as if unaware of what is happening around him. Only a small part of his mind seems to attend to external matters.
Godbole is polite, deferential to the British, and somewhat enigmatic. He is not deeply disturbed by Aziz’s arrest, although he has respect and affection for him. His attitude reflects his philosophical detachment rather than indifference. According to his philosophy, nothing in the universe happens independently of God. Both good and evil are aspects of the Lord. God is present in one and absent in the other; yet absence does not mean non-existence, because absence itself implies a kind of presence.
During the Gokul Ashtami festival, Godbole attempts to unite himself with the divine through song and dance. In his vision, he remembers Mrs. Moore and even a wasp, loving them equally as part of the same universal reality. He is also a poet and expresses his religious feelings through music and dance. He particularly appreciates the poem written by Aziz. Within his limitations, he considers himself a true friend of Aziz.
Overall, Godbole leaves the impression of a calm, philosophical, and spiritually inclined man whose outlook is shaped by Hindu mysticism and a belief in universal unity.
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