Friendship and Loyalty Theme Analysis

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 threatened by the friendship, insulting both Veraswami and Flory with racist and homophobic slurs. Initially, Flory fails to demonstrate loyalty or true friendship to Veraswami, signing a racist notice that a disparaging company manager named Ellis writes about Veraswami to avoid a fight with the other Europeans in Kyauktada, the colonial outpost where he works. Yet later, Flory defends his friendship with Veraswami and his own self-respect by nominating Veraswami for membership in the European Club, a position that would protect Veraswami from slander by his enemy, ambitious local official U Po Kyin. Flory’s actions outrage the other Club members who want to keep the organization all-white, showing how true friendship—which requires loyalty—can subvert existing power structures and hierarchies.