Essay On Burmese Days By George Orwell

Burmese Days by George Orwell is a historical fiction novel centered around Flory, an englishman living in Burma during the 1920s. Being under British rule during this time period, Burma is an interesting place in which the few englishmen living in the society are highly prioritized and the native Burmese people are looked down upon as savages. In addition, the British colonial government in Burma experiences massive corruption due to poor and unfair leadership. Thus, the novel Burmese Days helps to bring light to the vast political and racial issues in Burma during this time period.
In the story, the main character Flory struggles because unlike the other englishmen around him, he finds that he doesn’t share the same hate for the Burmese people. In fact, he admires the Burmese people and culture, and he is not fond of the corrupt government in Buruma. One of Flory’s good friends is Dr. Veraswami, a native Burmese man. Throughout the book, Flory faces constant ridicule from the other englishmen for being friends with a non-white and he struggles to choose between social pressure and his conscience. However, the stakes rise when Dr. Veraswami becomes the victim of several false political attacks by a high ranking and corrupt Burmese official named U Po Kyin. The only way for Dr. Veraswami to

Throughout the novel, the Englishmen look highly down upon any man with black skin and a native Burmese citizen has almost no rights when compared to the white man. This issue was very prevalent in the novel when Dr. Veraswami, a Burmese man was faced with false accusations. The novel stated that “when a man had a black face, suspicion is proof” which brings light to the issue of hypocrisy and discrimination in Burma (Orwell 12). The novel also states that in India, “you are not judged for what you do, but what you are” (Orwell