As Flory’s birthmark symbolizes his social alienation, its fading to a “faint grey stain” after he dies may suggest two possible interpretations. First, it suggests that social difference no longer matters after death because dead people are all equal. Second, if Flory’s suicide represents his surrender to the imperialist, racist, and censorious forces that were killing his spirit, then the fading of his birthmark might represent those forces’ tragic victory over Flory’s individual thoughts and feelings. Meanwhile, Dr. Veraswami’s attempt to save Flory from the scandal of suicide shows both the mutual loyalty that characterized their friendship and Dr. Veraswami’s real care for Flory above and beyond the status that friendship with a white man lent him.