I agree with Lucas when he says that such racist terms/ways of thinking have to be presented in order for Orwell to subvert/problematize them. Shouldn't we then be taking such remarks in the larger context of the story, or in trying to understand what Orwell was trying to achieve (e.g. subvert/problematize them), rather than looking at the lines individually? If we look at them out of context, sure, any reference to Burmese people as a homogenized 'sea of yellow faces' is indeed, as Achebe says, 'bloody racist'. But given that the narrator is an idiot (in many instances, e.g. he fails to fatally wound it several times, he cows to the need to not look a fool) who is, himself, a piece of evidence for us to 'grasp the hollowness' of colonialism- how seriously are we to take his words?
By 'how seriously', I don't mean to disregard them as unimportant- but rather, instead of reading them as merely racist lines (that they undoubtedly are), try to see how they function in the text as a larger whole? Just as the police officer is merely a cog in the machinery of imperialism, aren't these offensive lines a(n intentional) tool of Orwell's?
Please let me know what you guys think. I'm pretty confused as to how we're supposed to handle such lines in Orwell's texts (and maybe this' relevant for other course texts).
Thanks and enjoy the weekend!
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