Summary of Sara Jeannette Duncan, "A Mother in India"
Tags: Life in British India, Children sent to England for education, Enteric fever/illness, Agra, Taj Mahal, Rajasthan, Romance of India
In "A Mother in India," the narrator, Helena Farnham, recounts her life as a member of the Anglo-Indian military class, a community defined by its "ruling, administering, soldiering" duties and the harsh environmental realities of the subcontinent. The story begins at Fort Samila, a desolate and arid frontier outpost where Helena and her husband John live in a hut with a veranda, struggling to maintain appearances on a captain's pay. This location is characterized by a "sun glaring up from the sand," extreme temperatures reaching 102 degrees, and the constant threat of scorpions dropping from the ceiling. Helena describes the "open-handed Indian fashion" of living that she and John cannot afford, as they are "sodden poor" and forced to practice "small knowing economies," such as painting their own dog-cart to save fifty rupees and resisting the temptations of "fat spider" money-lenders.
The central conflict arises from the cultural necessity of sending British children born in India back to England for their health. When their daughter, Cecily, is only five weeks old, a doctor mandates her immediate departure to avoid death. Cecily is sent to England with a sergeant’s wife, becoming an "episode" in her parents' lives while they remain in India. Helena stays behind to nurse John through enteric fever—a common and deadly ailment in the region—without ice, proper food, or any sickroom comforts. This separation lasts for years, with Helena's capacity for maternal worry completely absorbed by the immediate struggles of colonial life, including military expeditions in the Black Mountain country and the Mirzai expedition, which consume their modest savings.
The narrative highlights the distinct social structure of Anglo-Indian society. Helena identifies deeply with "her own people"—those serving in Bengal, Burma, Madras, and the Punjab—who possess a "casual experienced glance" and a "touch of irony and of tolerance" born from their "marks of travail" in the East. She contrasts this with the "soft, unsophisticated people" of England, whom she finds preoccupied with "very particular trifles". This cultural divide is evident when she brings the grown-up Cecily back to India on a Bombay ship. Cecily, raised by her conventional aunts in England, views the Anglo-Indian atmosphere as "alien" and disapprovingly observes the "crisply stepping women" who walk the deck in "shabby skirts" discussing transfers and promotions.
A significant portion of the story takes place during the journey and eventual arrival in Agra, which becomes John's headquarters as a General Commanding the District. The text explores the social expectations for young women in India through characters like Mrs. Morgan, the wife of a Bombay High Court judge, who complacently notes that her daughters married into the Indian Civil Service and the Imperial Service Troops within a year of their arrival. Helena, however, feels a profound lack of "maternal instinct" for her daughter, whom she views as an "alien possession".
The setting of Agra serves as a backdrop for a "test of quality" devised by Dacres Tottenham, a family friend and administrative official in Allahabad. Dacres, who is charmed by Cecily’s simplicity, attempts to woo her by exposing her to the "marble archives of the Moguls". The narrative mentions several iconic Indian landmarks and historical figures, including:
The Taj Mahal: Described as "India’s one pure idyll" and a "great white pride of love in mourning".
Akbar’s Fort and the Pearl Mosque: The "three dome-bubbles" of the mosque are seen hovering above the fort's turrets and battlements in the moonlight.
Fattehpur-Sikri: The "Deserted City" where Dacres quotes a proverb inscribed over the mosque entrance: "The world is a looking-glass, wherein the image has come and is gone—take as thine own nothing more than what thou lookest upon".
The Tomb of Akbar and the Jessamine Tower: Specific sites included in Dacres’s "cumulative" tour designed to reveal the beauty of India to Cecily.
The text also touches upon the history of the Mogul dynasty, listing Baber, Humayon, Akbar, Jehangir, and Shah Jehan. Dacres describes Agra as a place where the Moguls "wrought their passions into marble" and "held them up with great refrains from their religion". However, the cultural disconnect between the romanticized view of India and Cecily’s literal English upbringing is stark. While Dacres waxes poetic about "foolish opulence" and "tawdry pageant," Cecily treats his descriptions as "exercises," recording them letter-perfect in her commonplace-book without truly understanding them. During a moonlight visit to the Taj Mahal, while Helena is moved to tears by the "mysterious, delicate, and faint" illusion of the garden, Cecily remains "herself," complaining that the marble is "a little cold under foot" because she forgot to wear "thicker soles".
The story concludes with Dacres realizing that Cecily’s "simple elemental goodness" and "repose" are actually limitations he cannot live with, leading him to leave Agra without proposing. Ten years later, Helena notes that Cecily has remained in India, becoming a "firm and solid English maiden lady". She has rejected other suitors, such as a major who talked only of jackal-hunting with a bobbery pack, because they did not meet the "standard" of conversation and intellect she briefly glimpsed in Dacres.
Throughout the text, Indian culture is presented through the lens of the British Raj, focusing on the "burden of India" and the administrative and military life of the colonizers. Aspects of the local environment, such as the sun-baked landscapes, the presence of "pariah dogs," and the "tom-tomming" of the bazaar, are used to emphasize the exotic and often taxing nature of the setting for the English characters. Even the domestic life in Agra, involving "little breakfast" and the management of "dining-rooms," is framed by the practical considerations of maintaining a British lifestyle in a foreign land. Ultimately, the "maternal instinct" Helena lacks is mirrored by Cecily's own inability to connect with the deep, "subtle" beauty of the Indian locations she inhabits, preferring instead her "frugal mind" and "sense of duty".
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