Burmese Days Themes

Burmese Days represents British imperialism as a fundamentally hypocritical project based on “the lie” that the British intend to “uplift [their] poor black brothers instead of to rob them.” Set in colonial Burma (now Myanmar), which was a colony of the British Empire from 1886 to 1948, the novel suggests that British colonizers consciously or subconsciously know that their true purpose in Burma is to exploit Burmese people economically—yet to preserve their sense of moral…

Burmese Days suggests that human beings are fundamentally status-seeking creatures and that racism serves to create status hierarchies pandering to the egos of those in power. Set in Burma during its colonization by the British Empire (1886–1948), the novel represents Burma’s British colonial government’s attempt to liberalize its racial politics to forestall anti-colonial Burmese nationalism and maintain power. One way that the government “liberalizes” its policies is to pressure all-white “European Clubs” in Burma to…

Burmese Days suggests that freedom of speech is essential to avoiding loneliness: people must be able to express themselves honestly to avoid alienation, isolation, and depression. The novel illustrates the relationship between freedom of speech and loneliness through John Flory, a disaffected timber merchant in his mid-30s who has worked in British colonial Burma since about age 20. During his time in Burma, Flory has come to realize that the British colonial presence in…

In Burmese Days, friendship means loyalty. The novel, set in British colonial Burma in the 1920s, suggests that British imperial culture discourages friendship between the colonizing British and colonized peoples because it might lead British people to feel more loyalty to their colonized friends than to imperialism or whiteness. This dynamic appears in the friendship between British timber merchant John Flory and Indian jail superintendent Dr. Veraswami. The other British characters clearly feel…