Burmese Days
Good Fit
- Readers who want to see the everyday machinery of British colonialism — bureaucracy, club culture, racial hierarchy — from the inside
- Anyone tracing the roots of the power and self-delusion themes that would fully mature in Orwell's later work (Animal Farm, 1984)
- Fans of slow, character-driven classic literature that favors psychological tension over plot speed
- Readers who want a sharp, ironic voice for themes of loneliness and not belonging
Not a Fit
- Readers looking for a fast, event-packed novel that builds tension from the first page
- Readers who will be uncomfortable with the 1930s colonial-era language (including racist speech from period characters) — the book uses this language to critique it, not to endorse it
- Readers expecting a comforting, hopeful ending
The novel opens with a portrait of U Po Kyin sitting motionless on his veranda under the blazing sun — a man who has climbed from the very bottom to his current rank. Orwell narrates his entire life story, from poor child to magistrate via bribery and betrayal, with an ironic, almost entertaining coldness: U Po Kyin never sells justice outright, since he knows a corrupt verdict will eventually be discovered — instead he takes bribes from both sides, then rules entirely according to the law.
U Po Kyin's next target is the district's respected doctor and everyone's friend, Dr. Veraswami. The plan is simple: plant seeds of doubt among the Europeans through anonymous letters, paint the doctor as "anti-British" — because U Po Kyin knows that for a white man, suspicion alone is proof enough. The first step of this plan is an ironic article in the local newspaper attacking the Government Agent, Mr. Macgregor.
In the second chapter, the reader meets Flory — a thirty-five-year-old timber merchant with an ugly forked birthmark running down his left cheek. This mark has given all his movements a strange asymmetry, making him avoid eye contact with people. Flory is Dr. Veraswami's close friend, but he shrinks from openly admitting this friendship at the club.
One of the book's harshest scenes occurs in this very chapter: the Kyauktada Club — the only club in Burma that has never admitted a "native" member — debates Macgregor's letter proposing Dr. Veraswami for membership. The racist outburst of Ellis, a timber-company employee (a "sick, disgusted hatred" of Orientals), is one of Orwell's most unflinching demonstrations of the everyday psychology of colonialism.
Flory stays silent through this scene — offering neither open support nor open objection, only a murmured "steady on." This passivity is the first sign of the entire tragedy that will unfold in later chapters: a man who belongs fully neither to the colonial system nor to any courage to oppose it.
The descriptions distilled from Orwell's own experience in Burma (1922-1927, in the Indian Imperial Police) — gardens wilting in the heat, ice shortages, servants pulling the punkah — give the novel its greatest strength: authenticity. This is not a colonial novel written from the outside, but a confession written from within.
- Orwell's prose is harsh and precise — he idealizes no character, including Flory
- The racist dialogue is deliberately written to shock — Orwell critiques it, he does not endorse it
- The parallel structure between U Po Kyin (skillfully rising) and Flory (passively decaying) runs throughout the novel
- Burma's nature and climate function almost as a separate character — heat, dust, the anticipation of the monsoon
The same author's later work, which turns the theme of power and self-delusion into allegory
Another classic depicting the psychological devastation of colonialism
Elizabeth pins her hopes on the officer Verrall, but he leaves Kyauktada without a word, on a train that departs ahead of time. Flory draws close to Elizabeth again, sits beside her in church and plans to propose after the service.
In the middle of the service Flory's former Burmese mistress, Ma Hla May, bursts into the church, her face grey with powder, and screams before the whole congregation: «Flory, where is the money you promised me?» Elizabeth rejects him for good: «Not if you were the last man on earth!» Flory goes home and shoots first his dog Flo, then himself.
Flory's death takes away Dr Veraswami's only protection: his standing collapses and he joins a second-rate club. U Po Kyin achieves all his dreams but one: he is elected to the European Club and receives a decoration. Before long Elizabeth happily accepts a proposal from Mr Macgregor.
If you see a problem, write to us. Publisher, author, rights holder, or just a reader — it doesn't matter. If there's something problematic about copyright in this review, if the review's author has broken the site's rules, or if you simply have a suggestion or complaint, hey@kitabdanevar.com. We'd rather resolve this between ourselves than go to court: we review requests within 48 hours and, if needed, correct or fully remove the review.
