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Historical Overview: Burma
British government took advantage of Burma’s instability
Colonized in 1866 Burmese protests in 1920s --
Buddhist monks & Students’ Union at Rangoon University
January 1947—granted independence from Great Britain
Civil Disobedience: The Struggle for Indian Independence
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW9MqIb9vZo
Gandhi: Indian Congress
Creation of Indian Congress--1919 Legislative body with limited
control over Indian affairs
Indian Nationalist—Mohandas Gandhi—”father of India”—became congressional leader
Gandhi: Protest
Used fasting as a form of
protest—repeatedly
Principles of Satyagraha: nonviolence and civil disobedience
Assassinated by a Hindi radical enroute to a prayer meeting in 1948 (age 78)
Oppression of the Indian People: 1919
Britain passed the Rowlatt Act Stripped Indian protestors of civil
liberties Eliminated right to trial by a jury
British soldiers killed hundreds of nationalist agitators
Gandhi’s Response
Gandhi pushed for Indian independence
Promoted nonviolent protest methods Influenced future movements
George Orwell 1903-1950
Best Known Writing
Novels•1934 – Burmese Days •1935 – A Clergyman's Daughter •1936 – Keep the Aspidistra Flying •1939 – Coming Up for Air •1945 – Animal Farm •1949 – Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nonfiction•1933 – Down and Out in Paris and London •1937 – The Road to Wigan Pier •1938 – Homage to Catalonia
Orwell’s Moral Dilemma
Orwell joined the Indian Imperial Police
Stationed in Burma—1922
Orwell's moral conflict stemmed from
his position as the despised Imperialist
in a colonized country
Moral Conflict
"I had already made up my mind that imperialism was an evil thing and the sooner I chucked up my job and got out of it the better. Theoretically - and secretly, of course - I was all for the Burmese and all against their oppressors, the British.”
Burmese Reaction
Despite his support for the Burmese, Orwell endured their overwhelming bitterness and hatred because of his British heritage: “The sneering faces . . . of young men that met me everywhere, the insults hooted after me . . got badly on my nerves."
Orwell’s Guilt and Reaction
Orwell sums up his feelings of guilt, coupled with his reaction against being hated: "All I knew was that I was stuck between my hatred of the empire I served and my rage against the evil-spirited little beasts who tried to make my job impossible."
Orwell’s Emotional Response
Although part of him saw the British Raj as tyrannical, “With another part I thought that the greatest joy in the world would be to drive a bayonet into a Buddhist priest's guts."
Orwell’s Rationalization
Orwell rationalized his rage saying, "Feelings like these are the normal by-products of imperialism."
Orwell realized that tyrannical imperialism works against both the imperialists and the natives.
Elephants: Timber Harvest Myanmar timber elephants and trainers (of
Mandalay division (1923-24 - Bombay Burma Timber Company)
Bombay Burma is the company which started the extraction of Myanmar forest products in large scale in the time of British
rule.