55 pages • 1 hour read
George OrwellBurmese Days
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1934A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Flory’s Birthmark
The most visible symbol in the novel is Flory’s birthmark—a large, ragged-edged, dark-blue crescent that runs across the entire left side of his face. The birthmark symbolizes how Flory’s beliefs about art, colonialism, and native culture make him an outsider to the others. At the same time, Flory’s birthmark is a symbol of all of his internal weaknesses. In moments of cowardice, Flory feels his birthmark’s coloring becoming more intense and more visible to those around him. In contrast, during his moments of courage, Flory forgets that his birthmark exists at all.
The birthmark also acts as a barometer for Flory’s relationship with Elizabeth. During good moments in their relationship, Elizabeth barely notices the birthmark, but when she dislikes him, the birthmark becomes so revolting to her that she becomes almost physically ill.
The final symbolic significance of the birthmark becomes clear after Flory’s suicide, when it fades away to almost nothing. In death, Flory loses his marker of difference and weakness. Orwell uses this to connect Flory to the thousands of other men who committed suicide in colonial Burma and were quickly forgotten.
The Weather
The weather, particularly the heat, is a symbolic representation of the effect of colonialism. Much like the empire, the heat magnifies and intensifies negative emotions until they reach their breaking point and become unbearable. Orwell’s narrator point out that the intense heat sets the rhythm of colonial life, as people sleep through the afternoon when it is too hot to do anything. As the novel goes on, the heat becomes more and more intense, paralleling tensions between individual characters, and those between Europeans and natives. This culminates during the riot, which takes place on the hottest day of the summer when everything reaches a boiling point. After Flory ends the riot peacefully, the immediate start of the rainy season echoes the dissolving tension of rioters returning home. Flory then enjoys the healing power of the rain by stripping naked and feeling the water run down his body.
“Pukka Sahib” / “Burra Memsahib”
The motif of the Pukka Sahib and the Burra Memsahib is important through the novel. The Pukka Sahib is the idealized male European colonialist, who follows a list of prescribed behaviors said to guarantee success. While we never get the full list of the “Ten Precepts of the Pukka Sahib,” we learn early on that the most important one is not to get entangled in native quarrels. Later, Ellis reminds Flory of five more of the precepts: keeping up prestige; the firm hand; white men must stick together; never giving the natives an inch; and esprit de corps. Ironically, of course, none of the Europeans is an ideal colonial worker. Ellis’s racism prevents him from doing his work effectively, Westfield doesn’t care about solving crimes, Lackersteen is a drunken sexual predator, and Macgregor cannot see the corruption of U Po Kyin. Flory tells Elizabeth that he likes to transgress Pukka Sahib precepts by talking with the Eurasians (though he dislikes them) and by enjoying native culture. Arguably, Flory’s reputation is ruined and he commits suicide because he has violated the most important precept by getting involved in the quarrel between Veraswami and U Po Kyin.
The female equivalent of the Pukka Sahib is the Burra Memsahib. This figure, represented throughout most of the novel by Mrs. Lackersteen, is a colonial administrator’s wife, who is primarily concerned with status. This woman learns nothing of the local language or culture, but delights in torturing her servants. This figure is hardly a happy one. Mrs. Lackersteen spends her time keeping an eye on her drunk husband, who sleeps with native women whenever he is able to escape her sight. At the conclusion of the novel, Elizabeth ascends to the position of the Burra Memsahib by marrying Macgregor, torturing her servants and giving dinner parties where she delights in putting those of lower social status in their place.
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By George Orwell
