George Orwell was a prominent writer that is known for his blunt critique of the society and politics, and in his short story An Incident in Rangoon, he uses this story to express his profound thoughts on colonialism. By those writings, he, nonetheless, portray the ethics crisis that people happen to be effected in the oppressive regimes. He relies on a blend of picture-like prose and careful description so as he illustrates the British colonialism in Burma in a wonderful way. Instead of just revealing the moral grayness and unfairness of the colonial regime, the author also provides a light on these moral obscurities and injustices. Orwell adopts a sober tenor for the purpose of the readers to be drawn into the narrative on various emotional and intellectual levels, so that the readers should reflect on what can be done to safeguard or destroy colonial structures. By putting a lead persona in a spot where they have to go through an inner conflict and have to come to terms with the moral dilemma, Orwell makes sure that the readers are able to have their own views on ethics and to understand how their actions and silence can be the cause of oppression.
An Incident in Rangoon starts with a vivid and retrograde tone, predicting the main story ahead. He uses you as a hypothetical character in the same way that that he would begin his story and move to the realm of the fiction. First, through the narration by first person Orwell himself Kreel to the audience to create an intimate relationship that leads the audience into the story closely from the beginning and involves them in the story. He fulfills this goal by narrating his tale in an interesting manner, raising the stage without creating any disruptions to the storyline. Hence, this way of composition is suitable for this context because it connects one to the narrator on different planes and puts the reader in the center of the moral dilemmas the narrator grapples with. In this case, the individualist’s philosophy leads the entire story; it lays the groundwork for the subsequent analysis of the ethical dilemmas presented in the story.
Orwell creates a visual image of the scene and gives the readers a notion of the time and place. He frequently uses descriptive words to help the readers feel the colonial atmosphere of Rangoon, where the story is set, and to give a taste of what is to come. For example, Orwell writes about “persistent rain” and “dreary” atmosphere that surround the night, which is a sign of sorrow and anxiety that is to come (Orwell). The “poker dice” stands for the chance or the folly and chaos which will then be the catalyst of a series of unfortunate events that will result in such destructive and deadly consequences of colonialism. The decaying “dead rat” is an imagery of the corruption and immorality, which is mirrored by the colonizing society’s decay. This picturesque gives a reader a sense of Rangoon colonial atmosphere that he/she can relate to the characters and feel the power of being under colonial rule (Braja and Sahoo). By his elaborate description and picturesque imagery, Orwell draws the viewers into the world of the colonized, evoking an empathic feeling that makes them experience the moral dilemma.
Orwell’s use of irony and juxtaposition is a master stroke which show the multiplicity of morals in colonialism. The disclosure of the “diamond merchant” having Thein Shwe’s father as its owner highlights this literary device. This twist turns all of reader’s presumptions about the father upside down, as the reader at the beginning of the story looks at him as an honorable person holding a powerful position within colonial hierarchy. On the flipside, the irony of his high social standing and yet being a client in the whorehouse denotes the vice and hypocrisy of the colonizing elites (Johnson). Orwell thus highlights the extreme contrast between the outwardly appearance of restraint and the hidden indulgences of the colonial upper class. This brings into play the contradiction that makes the readers doubt and question their belief about power and authority in the colonial context.
The skilled use of diction by Orwell in An Incident in the Rangoon is a great tool for telling his anti-colonial satire and also for generating the atmosphere of the story. Through the use of contrasting vocabulary, Orwell is able to demonstrate that the division based system is embedded with the colonial society (Paradis). The words like “opulent” and “brightly lighted” for colonizers’ surroundings stand back to back to evils-smelling alley and dimly lighted houses in the brothel district (Orwell). However, this significant gap only confirms the enormous difference between the standards of living for the colonizers and the colonized, as well as the deeper truth of ruthless exploitation and suffering that colonialism entails. This linguistic opposition brings out the circumstances as they are and so the reader is forced to see the realities of colonial oppression and imbalance of power.
Orwell uses an individualized style of prose which is characterized by objectivity and dehumanization in the story. Through the use of neutral and objective language, Orwell creates the sense of detachment, enabling the events to be demonstrated without emotional influence. This technique may be alienating as it makes the audience to view the tough situations with the unadulterated and direct vision (Johnson). On the other hand, the objectivity of the narrator cancels the characters’ humanity, including the women at the brothel, where it is located. Their importance is demonstrated by the simple expression “girls” or “women” without any names or other features, which communicates that they are being treated as objects instead of individuals with rights and humanity. This dehumanizing language thus illustrates the exploitation and marginalization of these characters which are symptoms of the colonialism system, and it compels the reader to think critically about the underlying injustices.
Orwell skillfully uses syntax to increase the impact and reflect the characters’ inner distress. At the core of this technique lies a variation in sentence length; which is artfully interchanged between short and clipped sentences with longer and descriptive ones (Johnson). The conciseness of the short sentences infuses a sense of urgency and chaos into the narrative, which are both an outlet for the characters’ impulsiveness and the unpredictability of their circumstances. On the other hand, the sentences of different lengths, specifically those that aim at describing the setting, form a solid background for the creation of a dense and, ultimately, overwhelming atmosphere. Besides, Orwell predominantly uses declarative sentences, which make the tone of the writer authoritative and the only option appears to be unavoidable. Nonetheless, the frequent utilization of interrogative sentences, including “Who lives in that house?”, adds to the dynamic nature of the story and it constitutes the inner struggles of the characters (Orwell). Through the conscious use of varied sentence structures, both the interest in the reader and the diversified feelings present in the narration are supported, therefore, the storyline is enhanced and enriched.
Moreover, different syntax schemes are applied to achieve the dramatic effect and portray the main ideas. One of the relevant techniques is the parallelism, and it is shown in the language applied in the phrases “They came across a Burman who was trying to offer for sale a motor bicycle & side car” and “Six miles down the track the back tyre was ripped off and the inner tube cut in half.” This repetition creates the rhythm and highlights the increasing absurdity of the situation, attracting attention to the characters’ troubles Moreover, Orwell uses asyndeton in various phrases including “After one hour of this, they requested the taxi driver to tell them how to get to the women, and he replied that it was late at night but he would try his best” (Orwell). The absence of conjunctions builds up the pace and creates a feeling of tension and shortness of breath uniting with the characters’ need for distraction in the story (Paradis). Also, anaphora is used, as seen when phrases like “The stench of dead rat growing stronger was each minute” and “Thein Shwe, Ba Sein, the driver and the prostitutes were all almost asleep” is repeated. Orwell adds thus both depth and richness to the storytelling as well as emphasizing thematic elements of absurdity, despair and tiredness.
In addition, Orwell’s skillful usage of punctuation, such as allusions or dashes that fill the text, is an unobtrusive but powerful device that helps the author to convey the state of a person’s mind, and enrich the depth of the narration. A sure way to achieve this is by scattering dashes wherever they are needed to mark the moments of pauses and hesitation, and stills too show the thoughts left behind without being spoken (Johnson). Here, to illustrate, we have the distance between “The cigarette taken from the lips of the girl, & he sits down next to her,” and “By the cross of the gypsies, & St Charity’s death, Alack & Fie for shame” (Orwell). This makes the indication of the psychological dimension of characters an accessible exercise to the readers. The development of dashes makes it possible for the author to express emotions within the narrative, thus prompting the audience to see the story as if it is in their own way of handling the image. He thus develops more thick plots of the characters and it is also a mean to deepen a reflection about his motives, goals and conflicts.
Through the utilization of a wide range of rhetorical devices, Orwell’s An Incident in Rangoon not only captures the imagination but also stimulates intentional thinking on the issues of colonialism, morality, and the human nature. Consequently, he pays much attention to the choice of words, syntax and punctuation, because each detail helps move the story forward and aide the author in passing his message. The irony and opposites of Orwell enhance the unjustness of colonialism, while his objectivity and dehumanization point out the systemic inequality that is actually in the colonization system. To achieve this, he uses linguistic structuring methods, such as parallelism, asyndeton, and anaphora, which lends the story a delicate and engrossing feel, developing the reader’s mental faculties and assuming the role of the story’s protagonist. In the end, Orwell’s delicate and precise use of rhetorical tools creates a stronger and more effective narrative that also encourages critical thinking about the different themes and ideas of colonial oppression and human nature, resulting in better comprehension of the intricacies on the matter.
Works Cited
Braja, Kishore, and Sahoo. “George Orwell and His Relevance to the Twenty-First Century.” India’s Higher Education Authority UGC Approved List of Journals Serial Number, vol. 19, 2019, www.languageinindia.com/feb2019/sahoorelevanceorwell.pdf. Accessed 16 Feb. 2024.
Johnson, Magnus Espolin. “Purposeful Plainness: The Politics of George Orwell’s Prose Style.” Uis.brage.unit.no, 2021, uis.brage.unit.no/uis-xmlui/handle/11250/2779088. Accessed 16 Feb. 2024.
Orwell, George. “An Incident in Rangoon.” Www.orwellfoundation.com, 20 Oct. 2010, www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwell/essays-and-other-works/an-incident-in-rangoon/.
Paradis, Cyi Gyi. ““Racial Repercussions of the British Imperial Curriculum:” Misperceptions of the Natives in George Orwell’s Burmese Days.” Honors Program Theses and Projects, 20 Dec. 2018, vc.bridgew.edu/honors_proj/424/.
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