Burmese Days by George Orwell

Burmese Days by George Orwell is set in 1920s colonial Burma, where it chronicles the life of John Flory, an alienated English timber merchant who despises the hypocrisy and racism of his peers at the European Club but is too cowardly to speak out. Flory’s only friend, the Indian doctor Dr. Veraswami, faces ruin due to the wicked schemes of the corrupt Burmese magistrate, U Po Kyin, who is determined to secure the first native membership at the Club. Flory’s hope for escape arrives with the young, superficial Elizabeth Lackersteen, but U Po Kyin uses Flory's former mistress to orchestrate a public scandal that causes Elizabeth to reject him. Completely defeated and seeing no way out of his miserable existence,

Flory commits suicide, thereby allowing U Po Kyin to ultimately achieve his objective, serving as Orwell’s sharp critique of the inescapable moral decay of colonialism.