Burmese Days

Author: George Orwell

The story dates back to the days of British colonialism when Burma was under the rule of Delhi within the British colony of India. The novel has been described as "a portrayal of the dark side of the British Raj." The story revolves around the life of John Flory, a lonely and vulnerable man trapped within a large, corrupt system that hinders the good side of human nature. This is Orwell's first novel, describing "imperial corruption and bigotry" in a society where "natives are treated as inferior peoples." Due to British fears that the novel might encourage rebellion against colonialism, that it depicted the city of Katha too realistically, and that some of its characters were inspired by real people, the novel was published in the United States, far from the British Empire. A British edition was then released with altered character names a year after the first edition. When the novel was published in the 1930s, some "old Burma hands" felt that the novel's harsh depiction of colonial society "disappointed them greatly." Orwell wrote in a letter in 1946: "I can truthfully say that my novel is unfair in some places, and inaccurate in others, but most of it is merely a statement of what I saw with my own eyes."