Miss Derek Character Analysis in A Passage to India

A young Englishwoman who works for an Indian Maharani. She is outgoing and carefree, regularly “borrows” her employer’s car, and is considered unseemly by many of the English in Chandrapore. Miss Derek is the person who consoles and drives Adela home after the events at the Marabar Caves. She is also carrying on a clandestine affair with the chief of police.

Miss Derek Character Timeline in A Passage to India

The timeline below shows where the character Miss Derek appears in A Passage to India. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

After the party Adela, Ronny, and Mrs. Moore go to dinner with Miss Derek (an English employee of a local Indian ruler) and the McBrydes (the superintendent of police... (full context)

...a hyena. Adela and Ronny examine the car, feeling adventurous and forgetting their relationship troubles. Miss Derek drives past them soon afterward and offers them a ride back to Chandrapore. (full context)

As she drives, Miss Derek jokes about her employer, the Maharaja, and boasts about having stolen his car for her... (full context)

...great distance the Marabar Hills look romantic, and at the English club Adela remarks to Miss Derek that she would have liked to have visited them with Aziz. Adela says that she... (full context)

...to the camp, and is delighted to see that Fielding is there, having arrived in Miss Derek ’s car. Aziz gets Fielding a drink, and they toast to India and England. (full context)

Aziz sends some servants to escort Miss Derek from her car, but they find that Miss Derek and Adela have already left to... (full context)

...he is being untruthful. He tells Fielding that he was with Adela when she saw Miss Derek ’s car and decided to run down to her, escorted by the guide. Fielding is... (full context)

McBryde says that Miss Derek has also given her account – she was looking for the picnic spot when she... (full context)

...She has been sunburned and had hundreds of cactus spines embedded in her skin, which Miss Derek and Mrs. McBryde had to pick out. Adela stays passively in bed, still in shock.... (full context)

Adela says goodbye to Miss Derek and Mrs. McBryde, and Ronny drives her to his bungalow. Adela is excited to see... (full context)

...the station when he returns, and brings up the subject by mentioning that McBryde and Miss Derek had been caught having an affair. Aziz jokes that McBryde will surely blame the hot... (full context)