Forster portrays the colonial officers and their wives as flat characters in order to emphasize their arrogance and snobbery , which symbolizes colonialism . By such characterization forster puts forward the recurring theme of exploring " undergrown hearts " in his other novels .

福斯特将殖民地官员和他们的妻子塑造成扁型人物，以突出强调他们身上的傲慢势利，将他们作为殖民主义的象征，提出了福斯特小说的一个常见主题：探索“发育不良的心灵”。