55 pages • 1 hour read
George OrwellBurmese Days
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1934A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Colonialism
The primary theme of Burmese Days is that colonialism brings out the worst in everyone. Characters are aware of their role within their imperialist world. For example, when Flory and Veraswami discuss the British Empire as an elderly female patient of the doctor’s, Flory considers colonialism a despotic project that steals from the colonies for the benefit of England, while Veraswami argues that the empire has uplifted the natives both economically and culturally. Similarly, at the European club, opinions are split on how to address the complaint that the British Empire is on the verge of collapse and that they need to take a stronger hand, lamenting that natives are becoming less and less deferential to their “betters” and that they are using the law against colonial administrators. Ellis and Westfield argue that the natives need severe punishment, while Mrs. Lackersteen argues that leaving the natives to govern themselves would be punishment enough.
The personal corruption of colonialism and empire is evident in many of the characters. Being in Burma magnifies Flory’s loneliness since it is impossible for him to meet those who are similar to him. His presence there is corrupting because his life is by definition hypocritical: While he criticizes the empire, he has no desire for it to end because losing his place in the machine of colonialism would be financially ruinous. Flory’s inability to commit to one side or the other alienates him from everyone, and proves to be his eventual downfall. Similarly, Flory is constantly punished for violating the norms of the pukka sahib—the idealized figure of the European colonial.
Other characters are also colonialist puppets. Westfield, ostensibly the figure of law and order, has no concern for the law, but rather seeks out pretexts to murder natives. Whenever a crime is committed, he only cares about finding and executing someone who can be plausibly blamed, rather than finding the true perpetrators. Ellis, an intrinsically unpleasant figure, has his entire personality taken over by his racism, making him manifestly unqualified to work in the colonies. Elizabeth, forced to marry for wealth and status, becomes a terrifying figure who abuses her servants and bullies lower ranking whites.
The final indictment of the colonial system is in how it treats Burmese characters. Dr. Veraswami, perhaps the only truly noble character in the novel, is constantly punished for his admirable qualities and winds up disgraced. Meanwhile, the very existence of U Po Kyin is a criticism of the colonial system, which allows such an evil, manipulative man to thrive.
Racism and Identity
The second primary theme of the novel is racism and its relationship to identity. The racist Europeans view the natives as lesser humans who require a strong hand to save them from themselves. The colonial system constructs clear hierarchies along class, racial, and gendered lines and rigidly enforces them. Unsurprisingly, much of the ire is reserved for the characters that transgress or destabilize these borders.
Flory, for example, is stuck between his fondness for Burmese culture and his role in the machinery of colonialism, unable to either to be a fully racist European or to completely go native. Instead, he transgresses the rules, befriending the native Dr. Veraswami and engaging with native culture. He attempts to construct an idealized relationship to reconcile these opposing identities, willfully assuming that Elizabeth has similar beliefs and can be molded into a lover of Burma.
Similarly, the mixed-race Eurasians, Francis and Samuel, are hated by the Europeans. Only Flory has sympathy for them—like him, they do not fully belong in either the white or Burmese world.
The Role of Borders
The construction and maintenance of borders, and the ineffectual resistance to this border construction, are key themes in the novel. Most literally, England dominates Burma, destabilizing its borders, ending its independence, and making the country part of the British Raj. At the same time, throughout the novel several Europeans, particularly Ellis, Westfield, and the Lackersteens, lament the seeming loss of English control within Burma and the growing Burmese independence movement.
On a smaller scale, Elizabeth is at first someone seemingly willing to buck the societal boundaries imposed on her. When we meet her, she has a fashionable bobbed hairstyle and modern clothes—the marks of a “new woman.” However, as the novel progresses, we see that she is quite resistant to transgressing gender roles. Instead, Elizabeth seeks to become a trophy wife to a stereotypically masculine man who can provide her with wealth and comfort.
Flory often transgresses cultural borders, but is too timid to stand up for his boundary-defying beliefs. While he is a critic of the British Empire, he has no desire to ever see it end. Furthermore, while he befriends Veraswami and the Eurasians, breaching the norms of the pukka sahib, his friendship with them never really disrupts the hierarchy of colonial society. Flory even admits that he does not consider Veraswami an equal, but only appreciates how he serves as a conversational release valve for Flory’s frustrations.
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