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Mr. Andrews by E.M. Forster: Summary and Analysis

ôMr. Andrews,ö by E.M. Forster is a short story that recounts the experiences of two souls as they ascend to the afterlife enter heaven. This essay will show how Forster uses Mr. Andrews and the Turk to demonstrate the universal human need for the human soul to experience and strive for God, the infinite, and something greater than itself.

The tale begins with a description of the souls of the dead ascending to heaven as Forster sets up the conflict that Mr. Andrews and the Turk will face in their desire to experience the infinity of God. As individual souls rise, the great world soul presses upon them, wanting to "break their thin envelope of personality, to mingle their virtue with its own" (Forster 141). Yet, the individual souls resist this pressure, thinking that, like their life on earth, the afterlife will mean a glorious eternity of individual awareness in the presence of God.

This is what Mr. Andrews and the Turk think as they ascend, that salvation will be according to the particular religious creed that each espoused. Both understood themselves to be a "Believer" (141). Mr. Andrews expected to be admitted to heaven because, according to his "broad church" Christian faith, he was righteous and "a righteous soul may reasonably be conscious of its own righteousness" (141). The Turk, on the other hand was "slain fighting the infidel" (141) and so believes that this makes him acceptable in Allah's sight to be allowed into heaven (141). Neither Mr. Andrews nor the Turk believes the other will be allowed into heaven because of their distinct religious beliefs. When they do reach the gates, however, both are willing to sacrifice their own place and ask, "Cannot he enter?" (Forster 142). The joy they experience then is not because they as individuals will enter, but that both are allowed to enter and do so together (142).

Yet, as both Mr. Andrews and the Turk discover, "in that place their expectations were fulfill...

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Mr. Andrews by E.M. Forster: Summary and Analysis. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 20:50, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1709310.html