Very interesting conclusion of your post, fantasyfan. Actually, it seems to me that Forster is equidistant from the British and from the Indians (Muslims and Indu). I mean in terms of affection/sympathy/identification for the individual characters. The elements of contrast, typical of his themes, not only make them clash together, but also within themselves. in a diffuse muddle.
Nature also, is ambiguously and generally hostile, the weather, the sun, the river, the landscape, the excessive climate. A never ending torment. Like the woman and the wasp, beyond the possibility of resolution and understanding. Something to be endured because that's the way it is, without a purpose or a reason. A core of undefined nothingness. The worm of the cave. Existentialism ante litteram? Mmmm... I never thought of it like that. But it fits somehow. I like it. Thank you.
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