Flory lives a pretty sad life with no real intent to change it. He constantly talks about how he is lonely and wants to escape Burma and leave for Europe but can't. He can’t connect to any of the other Europeans and thinks less of them because of that. He is critical of British part in destroying Burma and thinks poorly of the Britain for doing so. But Flory’s answer to loneliness is him jumping to conclusion and making fake illusions of reality. Sometimes this is positive and other times this is negative. This is clearly pictured through his relationship with Elizabeth and it both build confidence as well as discourages it. Positively he thinks that Elizabeth is this very cultured women who is into the arts but finds out that she is not that.