Once Orwell realizes “the hollowness, the futility of the white man’s dominion in the East” and continues to play his role designed by the British Empire, he gives power to the Empire (page 3). In the beginning of his essay, he states that his mind is detached from the work he does. In certain schools of thought, Orwell’s self realization can be interpreted as having the ultimate power. He understands the Imperial role that he has to play and feels guilty about how much power he owns in a land that is not truly his. What Orwell does not understand is that mentality of the establishment bleeds into one’s thoughts and feelings. This is because the public still sees Orwell as a part of the establishment and he feels compelled to play the part. Because of this, the power gets fed back into the larger image which is the British Empire.

The power comes from the Empire’s manipulation of Orwell’s desires. He is deathly afraid of looking weak in front of the natives. In Orwell’s mind, it is akin to survival: the natives can never see themselves as the superior people. When he thinks about death, it is not because he is scared to die, but it is because he is scared of the joy that the natives will get out of the image of his corpse. Everything Orwell does is revolving around his perceived power. In a larger scheme of things, Orwell is not unique to this issue as he states. This issue of perception and the image of the British Empire plagues “every white man’s life in the East” (page 3). Everyone has this internal struggle in their lives and they all choose to play their role in the imperialistic world.