Book Report on “burmese Days” by George Orwell
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About the book:
The book “Burmese Days” was written by George Orwell and published first in 1934. Orwell took the inspiration for this first novel of his from the experiences he gained during his service as an imperial police officer in Burma in the late 1920s. There he was confronted with extreme forms of imperialism, causing racism and also chauvinism. These are also the main topics of the novel and although they are wrapped up in the story of a single mans fate, John Florys, these topics caused some problems with the publishing of the book. For that reason the book was first published in America, the English version wasnt published until some changes – mainly name changes – were made which was nearly a year later.
“Burmese Days” is set in 1920s Burma under British colonialism. It focuses on the imperialism of the British and its effects on the relationships between the British, the British and Indians, and between the Indians themselves. So negative is the portrayal by Orwell of imperialism that it can be seen as a novel without hope in terms of altering the imperialistic structure of the British rule in Burma. No character- British or Burmese- appears to be capable of escaping the destructive trap of imperialism. Orwell points out clearly his negative attitude on European politics at his times, for in his youth he was very much in favour of the Marxist ideology and so is the protagonist of the novel “Burmese Days”, John Flory. The novel concentrates on the town of Kyauktada in Upper Burma. Kyauktada is described as hot and sultry. It is a small town of about four thousand people. The overwhelming majority of the inhabitants are Burmese, but there are also a hundred Indians, two Eurasians, sixty Chinese, and Seven Europeans. Nevertheless, as in all imperialistic societies the small group of Europeans suppresses the great majority of the native people, who seem to accept perfectly the superiority of the white people. Orwell criticizes this feeling of inferiority the Europeans give the Burmans and especially the Eurasians, because for their existence the Europeans are even responsible. Although he seems very much in favour of the so-called inferior people, the novel gives a certain impression of the Asian character to the reader, which is not very likeable. The Asian people are described – and not only by the characters of the book that are meant to be in favour of the British imperialistic government in Burma – as false, two-faced and spineless. Prestige is all for them and they would do everything to get it. Maybe Orwells real impression of the Burmese wasnt as positive as one could think while reading the passages about the behaviour of the English, sometimes he even seems to loathe the Burmese, but then again his Marxist ideas force him to write in favour of the socially disgraced. Orwell points out this conflict very consciously, as his own comment on his service in Burma proofs: “I was in the Indian Police for five years, and by the end of that time I hated the imperialism I was serving with a bitterness which I probably cannot make clear. [] I had reduced everything to the simple theory that the oppressed are always right and the oppressors are always wrong: a mistaken theory, but the natural result of being one of the oppressors yourself. I felt I had got to escape not merely from imperialism but from every form of mans dominion over man.” (George Orwell)
In the novel George Orwell also gives a very detailed description of the Burmese landscape and its flora. It is typical for the author to draw parallels between the mental state of the main characters and their environment and so he does in the book. He describes the exotic plant life in Burma clearly and links it up to John Florys feeling of being a stranger in a strange country. The changes of weather and vegetation during the seasons in Burma can be compared to the changes of Florys emotions. At the beginning of the story, when John Flory is completely indifferent to his environment, also the descriptions of the plant world arent very important. But while the story develops, and especially when Elizabeth, the woman Flory falls in love with, comes to Kyauktada, Flory takes more and more notice of the things happening around him and so he does of the weather and the changes in Burmese flora. So, for example, Florys emotions are linked up very much to the frangipani tree under which Flory and Elizabeth kiss for the first and the last time. He hates it, because in his opinion it stinks, and on the other hand he is longing for bringing back this one beautiful moment linked up so close to it. But also colours play a big role in the story, the colours of birds, symbolizing their characters in a way and making Flory feeling sorry for them when he shoots them, the colours of the plants and the vegetation in Burma, which goes from beautiful and luxuriant to dusty, ugly and dried out. In the same manner, Orwell “dresses” Elizabeth in certain colours when she and Flory have a better relationship to each other and paints her clothes different when she is upset with Flory. The dress that is the symbol for her greatest affection for Flory is lilac-coloured and she wears it twice, once at their first meeting and for the second time when they kiss under the frangipani tree. Another interesting thing is the almost tremendous increase of the heat before the rains break in and the parallel in the aggravation of the tensions between the Europeans themselves and the Europeans and the Burmans, which Orwell draws with an amazing continuity. As the story approaches towards its end, the rains break in and at first they seem to release Flory and to change everything for the better, because after the rumour the Burmese started is headed off, Florys friend Dr. Veraswami gains a lot of prestige and Elizabeth is close to love Flory, which goes all hand in hand with the beginning of the rainy season. But as it has to be, a novel by George Orwell cant have a happy end. As the rains first stop to fall for a short time and the sky has the colour of lead, which remembers Flory of his youth, everything turns over in the catastrophe of Florys whole life again. The short break between the rainfalls is a symbol for U Po Kyins chance to do his enemies some harm again and so he does, taking all the prestige a Burmese can take away from an Englishman, away from Flory at one evil strike. After that, Elizabeth wont speak a word with Flory again what makes him make the decision to shoot himself dead. Coming closer and closer to this decision in a few hours, also the rain starts to fall again, halting, at first, but getting stronger and stronger and when Flory killed himself it is fully there again which symbolizes the final release of Fory, who just did not