Work record

Burmese Days

Name: Burmese Days
Author: George Orwell

George Orwell

1934 · Early 20th Century · Novel · English

Copyrightedlow medical relevanceFive-minute digest

Abstract

Written: Published 1934 (US); 1935 (UK)
Setting: 1920s; Kyauktada, Upper Burma
Author: George Orwell
Country: United Kingdom (British India)
Language: English
Genre: Colonial novel
Form: Novel in twenty-five chapters
Recommended: Grades 11–12 (Racial slurs, sexual immorality, suicide, violence.)

Setting. A small town in the north of British-ruled Burma is ruled by a few British officials who drink nightly at their club. Orders arrive to admit one Asian member.

Conflict. A scheming local magistrate sets out to destroy the reputation of the Indian doctor who is the obvious candidate, so that he can win the seat himself.

Hero. The doctor's friend, a lonely English timber merchant marked by a birthmark, despises the club's bigotry but never dares to defend his friend openly.

Romance. A young Englishwoman arrives in search of a husband. She finds his love of Burmese culture distasteful and turns to an aristocratic officer, who abandons her.

Tragedy. After a riot, the merchant is shamed in church by his former mistress, paid by the magistrate. He takes his own life, and the villain triumphs.

For students. This is a harsh picture of empire and moral cowardice. It contains racial slurs, immorality and suicide and is suitable only for older students. Orwell's first novel, published in New York in 1934 a year before London, stays in US copyright through 2029, so readers meet Flory and U Po Kyin here only in summary and should bring their own copy to class.

Main characters

John Flory: timber merchant
Dr. Veraswami: Indian physician
U Po Kyin: corrupt magistrate
Elizabeth Lackersteen: newcomer from England
Verrall: cavalry officer

Portrait of George Orwell. Source · Public domain

Summary

Burmese Days is George Orwell's first novel, drawn from his five years in the Indian Imperial Police in Burma (1922-27). It is set in the 1920s in Kyauktada, a small district town in Upper Burma, where a handful of British officials and traders spend their evenings drinking at the European Club. John Flory, a timber merchant in his mid-thirties with a dark birthmark on his face, despises the club members' contempt for the Burmese and their pretence of civilizing but lacks the courage to say so. His only true friend is the Indian doctor, Dr. Veraswami, a gentle admirer of British civilization. A corrupt Burmese magistrate, U Po Kyin, schemes to ruin Veraswami's reputation and take his place as the first native member of the club, which has been ordered to elect one, so that U Po Kyin can win honor and then atone for his sins by building pagodas. Flory's lonely life changes when Elizabeth Lackersteen, a young Englishwoman, arrives looking for a husband. Flory falls in love with her and tries to share his love of Burmese culture, but she is repelled by it and wants only a conventional, prestigious marriage. When a dashing young cavalry officer, Verrall, appears, she drops Flory, but Verrall leaves without a word. A riot, stirred up by U Po Kyin, breaks out; Flory bravely helps to calm it and briefly wins Elizabeth back. But U Po Kyin pays Flory's discarded Burmese mistress, Ma Hla May, to disgrace him publicly in church. Elizabeth rejects him, and Flory, in despair, shoots his dog and then himself. U Po Kyin succeeds in every scheme and is elected to the club, though he dies before he can build his pagodas. Elizabeth marries the deputy commissioner. The novel attacks imperial rule as Orwell saw it, the club's racial contempt and moral cowardice, and its central figure fails because he never speaks the truth he knows. Because the 1934 novel stays in US copyright through 2029, the Kyauktada story is retold here rather than quoted.

Virtues in this work

Fortitude: The novel shows the cost of lacking it.
Justice: It exposes racial injustice and the cowardice that allows it.

Plot or Argument

Chapters 1-5: Kyauktada
U Po Kyin plots; the club debates admitting a native member; Flory's friendship with Dr. Veraswami.
Chapters 6-14: Elizabeth
Flory courts Elizabeth, who dislikes Burma.
Chapters 15-20: Verrall and the riot
Elizabeth turns to Verrall; Flory acts bravely in a riot.
Chapters 21-25: Disgrace
Ma Hla May shames Flory in church; he kills himself; U Po Kyin triumphs.

Characters

John Flory, timber merchant
Lonely Englishman who sees through the pretence of imperial rule but lacks courage.
Dr. Veraswami, friend
Indian doctor who admires the British.
U Po Kyin, villain
Corrupt Burmese magistrate.
Elizabeth Lackersteen, love interest
Young Englishwoman seeking a husband.
Verrall, officer
Arrogant cavalry lieutenant.
Ma Hla May, mistress
Flory's former mistress.

Lessons

Moral cowardice
Flory knows the truth but will not speak it.
- When does Flory fail to stand up for Veraswami?
- What does this cost?
Related across the library
- Civilization and Its Discontents, Lesson: Conscience grows harsher the more we obey it
  Conscience grows harsher the more we obey it. Freud's paradox is that renouncing aggression feeds the super-ego, so the most virtuous people may feel the most guilt. Guilt need not track wrongdoing at all.
- The Yellow Wallpaper, Lesson: The unreliable narrator
  The unreliable narrator. Everything is filtered through a mind in crisis. Readers must judge what is real and what the narrator imagines.
- The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Lesson: Becoming a new person
  Becoming a new person. Eustace becomes a dragon by sleeping on a hoard with greedy thoughts, and he cannot tear off the dragon skin by his own efforts; only Aslan's painful claws can do it. The scene shows that real change comes as a gift that has to be accepted, and that afterwards the change still has to be lived out day by day.
- The Quiet American, Lesson: Detachment is a moral position
  Detachment is a moral position. Fowler's claim not to choose is itself a choice that protects his comfort. The novel shows neutrality collapsing when observation meets preventable suffering.
- BUtterfield 8, Lesson: Respectability depends on whom it excludes
  Respectability depends on whom it excludes. The novel shows the same men moving between family life and a demimonde that society pretends not to see. It exposes how reputations are protected at the expense of women like Gloria.
Empire and racism
The European club embodies racial pride, and cowardice keeps decent men from resisting it.
- How do club members speak of Burmese people?
- What does Orwell think of empire?
Related across the library
- Lord Jim, Lesson: Understanding another person
  Understanding another person. Marlow's endless attempts to understand Jim show the limits of knowing anyone. The novel's layered narration dramatises interpretation itself.
- Civilization and Its Discontents, Lesson: Conscience grows harsher the more we obey it
  Conscience grows harsher the more we obey it. Freud's paradox is that renouncing aggression feeds the super-ego, so the most virtuous people may feel the most guilt. Guilt need not track wrongdoing at all.
- Effi Briest, Lesson: Avoiding the question
  Avoiding the question. Effi's father always retreats with 'too wide a field'. The novel shows how evasion lets a society avoid moral responsibility.
- Down and Out in Paris and London, Lesson: The dignity of the poor
  The dignity of the poor. Orwell shows that the poor are not different from anyone else.
- The Agricola and the Germania, Lesson: The uses and dangers of ethnography
  The uses and dangers of ethnography. The Germania uses 'noble barbarians' to criticize Roman decadence. Its notion of German racial purity was later exploited by nationalists and Nazis, showing how ancient texts can be misused.
Corruption
U Po Kyin plans to buy forgiveness by building pagodas.
- How does U Po Kyin view sin?
- How does Christian repentance differ?
Related across the library
- The Meek One, Lesson: Understanding too late
  Understanding too late. The narrator's insight comes only after her death, in a monologue that circles and contradicts itself. The story dramatizes the difficulty of seeing oneself truly.
- The Voyage of the Beagle, MALDONADO
  of the sea The common prejudice of lying where one s ancestors have lain would make the now roaming Indians bring the less perishable part of their dead to their ancient burial-ground on the coast January th Before it was dark the Beagle anchored in the fine spacious harbour of Port St Julian situated about one hundred and ten miles to the south of Port Desire We remained here eight days The country is nearly similar to that of Port Desire but perhaps rather more sterile One day a party accompanied Captain Fitz...
- Lord Jim, Lesson: Understanding another person
  Understanding another person. Marlow's endless attempts to understand Jim show the limits of knowing anyone. The novel's layered narration dramatises interpretation itself.
- Down and Out in Paris and London, Lesson: Charity
  Charity. Orwell is skeptical of charity that humiliates.
- Heart of Darkness, Lesson: The lie that saves
  The lie that saves. Marlow, who hates lies, tells the Intended a comforting falsehood. The ending asks whether some truths are too dark to deliver.

Context

Orwell served in the Indian Imperial Police in Burma from 1922 to 1927 and came to hate imperialism.

Composition

Published first in the US by Harper in 1934 because British publishers feared libel; Gollancz published a revised edition in 1935.

Reception

Regarded as a key novel of the end of empire.

Colonialism Empire Race Slavery Isolation / Alienation Guilt Sin Love Desire Honor Shame

Comparisons

Heart of Darkness
Conrad's novel of corruption at a remote imperial outpost.
Animal Farm
Orwell's later fable of power.
Kim
Kipling's more admiring picture of British India.

Quotes

For Students

A reading companion for classical Christian high school students. See the student guide.

Reading Guide

Watch for

Flory's birthmark as a symbol.
The election to the club.
Elizabeth's values and what she admires.
U Po Kyin's schemes.

Key terms and names

Upper Burma: Northern region of Burma, then part of British India.
European Club: Social club for Europeans only.
Pagoda: A Buddhist shrine or temple in Burma.
Imperialism: Rule of one nation over another.

Seminar Questions

Comprehension Why does U Po Kyin want to ruin Dr. Veraswami?
Comprehension How does Flory die, and what leads to it?
Interpretation What does Flory's birthmark symbolize?
Interpretation Why does Elizabeth reject Flory?
Interpretation What is Orwell's view of empire?
Big Question What does courage require when truth is unpopular?

Faith Connections

Acts 17:26 (Scripture)
God hath made of one blood all nations; the club's contempt for the Burmese denies this.
Proverbs 29:25 (Scripture)
The fear of man bringeth a snare; Flory's fear of the club destroys him.

Logic and Rhetoric

Central argument: Empire corrupts both rulers and ruled, and silence in the face of injustice destroys the one who keeps it.

Rhetorical device: irony. The villain triumphs while the decent men suffer.

Debate: Resolved: that Flory could have changed the club.

Writing Prompts

Essay: Explain why Flory fails to act on what he knows is right.

Comparison with Heart of Darkness: Compare Orwell's and Conrad's views of empire.

Medical Lens

Heavy drinking at the club, Dr. Veraswami's medical work, and Flory's suicide.

Alcohol Suicide Physicians Doctors

Final chapters
Flory's despair and suicide at the end.
Suicide

Creative Prompts

Essay
Is Flory a tragic hero or a coward?
Fiction
Write Dr. Veraswami's letter after Flory's death.
Classroom
Research British rule in Burma in the 1920s.