MovieChat Forums > A Passage to India (1985) Discussion > Why Fielding make letter misleading? *sp...

Why Fielding make letter misleading? spoilers

posted 15 years ago by ph75006
2 replies | jump to latest

When Aziz received a letter from Mr. Fielding at the end, Aziz said Fielding wrote, "I'm going to marry someone whom you know" and angrily assumed he meant Adela. But then Fielding shows up with Stella, Mrs. Moore's daughter. But Aziz never met Stella so why did Fielding write that? Aziz knew about Stella because Mrs. Moore told him she had a daughter named Stella who was an artist back in England but he didn't actually know her in real life. As someone who seems to be very prudent, why would Fielding write something that could be misinterpreted? Especially since he's trying to patch things up with Aziz?

[–] Movie_map 15 years ago

I saw this movie when it first came out and hadn't seen it since. My most vivid memory of the movie was Aziz calling out for Mrs Moore at his trial. When I watched it last week I was blown away, so much so that I watched it again a couple of days later. In between I read your post and it stuck in my mind, so when I watched it the second time I kept an eye out for any clarification over Stella vs Adela. It's just as you describe. Knowing David Leans attention to detail the only explanation I can come up with is Aziz simply misinterpreted and misremembered the letter. That seems to be supported by an analysis I read of the book. In the book Aziz only reads part of the letter and jumps to a conclusion about who Fielding had married.

[–] ph75006 15 years ago

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought it was a confusing sequence. I thought it was a slip on David Lean's part actually...to let the letter say something with such a glaring potential to be taken the wrong way. I think it should've read, "I finally heeded your advice and got married." Or something to that effect. Because Aziz did suggest Fielding marry Adela during their little heart-to-heart after he shares his wife's photo with him. After Fielding said, no no, he couldn't marry Adela even if he wanted to b/c she's already engaged, Aziz kept urging him to find a woman and even wanted to take it upon himself to find him a wife. I can see how that then could be misinterpreted if Aziz reads the letter in a state of hatred/anger, thinking Fielding eventually married Adela, just like he himself suggested earlier.

Why Fielding make letter misleading? *spoilers*

Why Fielding make letter misleading? spoilers