During the attack on the Club, which was his fault, the English do not even think to blame him.
Furthermore, there is no external check on his behavior: by dint of his being European, and a minority in numbers, the other Club members let him do what he wants without censure even if they do not agree with him. Perhaps if he had stayed in England they would be sublimated or even amended, but here, amid the heat and the exotic, strange colony far removed from home, Ellis feels comfortable indulging in every terrible thought or impulse. He clearly possesses these traits already and the colonial experience exacerbates them.
He is almost one-note in his monstrous racism, prejudice, and ignorance as the narrator puts it, he should never even be in Burma. Narrator, 24.Įllis is one of the most loathsome characters in a book full of characters that simply aren't that likable. He was an intelligent man and an able servant of his firm, but he was one of those Englishmen-common, unfortunately -who should never be allowed to set foot in the East. This is the final indicator that the birthmark was more than just a mark on his face, but was a potent symbol of his inner life.Īny hint of friendly feeling towards an Oriental seemed to him a horrible perversity. Once Flory dies, the birthmark fades in vibrancy. Flory is only able to forget his birthmark when he taps into those traits at last. In terms of weakness, the birthmark is a visual manifestation of his shortcomings in terms of lack of confidence, self-awareness, and courage. He is embarrassed by his birthmark and tries to hide it in the same way he generally hides his true self from everyone else. In terms of difference, the birthmark cements the reader's understanding that Flory is not like the rest of the Englishmen. Flory's shortcomings would be noticeable without this excrescence on his face, but it is important as the ultimate way in which Elizabeth is able to see just why she and Flory cannot be together.
Narrator, 17.įlory's birthmark is an interesting symbol of both his difference and his weakness. Seen from the left side his face had a battered, woebegone look, as though the birthmark had been a bruise -for it was a dark blue in colour. The first thing that one noticed in Flory was a hideous birthmark stretching in a ragged crescent down his left cheek, from the eye to the corner of the mouth.
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