Burmese Days Orwell Analysis

While there are several aspects of Orwell’s book that could be considered wildly insensitive and politically incorrect from a twenty-first century perspective, it seems an essential component for the author to adequately emphasize the harshness of the environment in which the story is set. The intolerant treatment of the Burmese people, as well as other non-European nationalities within the storyline, expose the cruel reality of British racism that permeated colonial life. Furthermore, the author’s use of derogatory language allows the reader the opportunity to see past the vail of time to when interracial relationships were unapologetically derided. However, it is important to note the author did include revealing clues to how cruel the indigenous population could be toward one another as well, especially toward those with low social ranking; driving the desire of the Burmese elite to be equated with the Europeans and distance themselves from their own ethnic origins. In fact, the outpost’s social

It also highlighted how indigenous populations are affected when exposed to British imperial colonization and their Eurocentric perspectives. The plot provided just enough historical details for the reader to become engrossed in the storyline and ponder about its authenticity. The story also provided the reader with an intimate glimpse into the daily drudgeries associated with life in a British outpost on the edge of a hot, humid and once untamed jungle that was being wrestled from nature for the sake of civilized progress. The ethnocentric ideologies of the British colonists had a profound influence on the Burmese people and in turn on the Briton’s themselves. It serves as a cautionary tale to remind readers that all cultures are intricately linked despite their obvious