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Chapter 5
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Burmese Days, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Imperialism and Hypocrisy
Status and Racism
Class, Gender, and Sex
Freedom of Speech, Self-Expression, and Loneliness
Friendship and Loyalty
Summary
Analysis
The following morning, while Flory shaves and bathes, Macgregor does calisthenic exercises, and Westfield oversees the jailing of a man suspected (but not convicted) of theft. Later, Macgregor and Flory meet while out walking. Though Flory responds cheerfully to Macgregor’s greeting, he secretly thinks Macgregor is a conformist “old bladder of lard.” Shortly thereafter, Flory encounters a clerk who gives him an anonymous letter accusing Dr. Veraswami of having written the Burmese Patriot article and of raping female patients at the hospital. Flory immediately concludes that the letter was dictated by U Po Kyin. He considers showing it to Veraswami, but the British are allowed to “love” native people but not get involved in their affairs or show “loyalty” to them. Ultimately, he just tears the letter up.
When Westfield jails a man suspected of theft on relatively little evidence, the incident yet again shows how the British government in Burma, far from its ideal of “uplift,” engages in petty and corrupt abuses of power. Flory’s unvoiced thought that Macgregor is a conformist “old bladder of lard” illustrates how Flory consistently fails to express his own nonconformist beliefs. Finally, Flory’s second failure to show “loyalty” to Veraswami—tearing up the letter instead of showing it to his friend—again demonstrates that U Po Kyin was correct to predict that white British Flory would be disloyal to his non-white friends.
Themes
Suddenly, Flory hears a scream. He jumps the compound gate, scratching his knee, and runs into the jungle, where he finds a young Englishwoman backed into a bush by a water buffalo. The woman begs for his help. Flory whacks the buffalo across the nose and drives it away. Immediately the woman jumps on Flory, clinging to his arm, and he becomes very conscious of her body. Embarrassed, Flory turns his face to hide his birthmark and asks where the woman came from. When she explains she came from her uncle’s, he realizes she’s Mr. Lackersteen’s niece (Elizabeth Lackersteen). He invites her back to his bungalow to collect herself. She agrees, and they go, Flory admiring her “beautiful” cropped-short hair.
Flory’s consciousness of the young woman’s body implies that he is immediately sexually attracted to her, as does his admiration of her “beautiful” hair. Since the previous chapter ended with Flory longing for a companion who could understand him, readers may wonder whether he will pursue this young woman in hopes of a genuine connection. Yet his impulse to hide his birthmark—which symbolizes his alienation and nonconformity—from her suggests that despite his loneliness and desire for authentic connection, his first impulse is still not to speak freely and honestly with others.
Themes
Ko S’la brings gin onto the veranda for Flory and the woman (Elizabeth), but Flory refuses the morning alcohol. He tells her that it’s wonderful to have a new person in town and asks whether she came from England. She says no—she was living in Paris with her mother before. Flory, excitedly praising the idea of Paris, warns her that Kyauktada won’t be all “drinking white wine and talking about Marcel Proust,” but he offers her his books. When she says she loves books, they begin a conversation about reading and hunting. Flory talks a great deal, and she is happy to listen: she feels that Flory is “almost a hero” for saving her from the buffalo.
In previous scenes, the novel has shown Flory and other British characters drinking in the morning—implicitly to deal with their misery caused by their subconscious or conscious knowledge that their presence in Burma is unjust, exploitative, and immoral. Yet after meeting this young woman, Flory refuses morning alcohol, a detail suggesting that he hopes she will be different from the other British people in Burma and perhaps capable of assuaging his loneliness. His excited conversation with her about books further hints that he hopes she will become his confidante, as the novel has previously associated Flory’s solitary reading with his alienation and inability to speak freely to others.
Themes
Suddenly, Flory and the woman (Elizabeth) notice that the cook and Ko S’la’s family are spying on them from beyond the veranda. The curious audience reminds them that they are “total strangers”; after Flory yells at them to leave, the woman announces her intention to go home. Then Ma Hla May walks out of the house onto the veranda. When she demands to know who the Englishwoman is, Flory tells her to leave immediately or he’ll beat her. Ma Hla May shrugs and vanishes. When the Englishwoman asks whether Ma Hla May was a boy or a woman, Flory claims that Ma Hla May is a woman who just came to ask about laundry. As the Englishwoman leaves, she and Flory officially introduce themselves, and he learns her name is Elizabeth Lackersteen.
Flory has been longing for a companion with whom he can be honest, and his excited reaction to Elizabeth Lackersteen suggests that he sees her as a potential companion—yet he begins their relationship by lying to her about his connection with Ma Hla May, showing that his shame and fear of social rejection are still stronger than his desire to speak freely. Additionally, his lie about Ma Hla May hints that he believes his relationship with a non-white woman would be unacceptable to an Englishwoman like Elizabeth, emphasizing the role of racism and social status in their nascent love triangle.
Themes
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