The old hunter
The headman of the beaters on the shooting expedition: a stringy but active old man with grey hair and dark blue tattoo patterns on his thighs, who pours a bottle of cloudy liquid on the ground as a sacrifice before the drive, explains the plan in a cracked voice, and points with his dah to show John Flory and Elizabeth Lackersteen where to stand.
The book
At a glance
- Head of the beaters on Flory and Elizabeth's shooting trip
- Hunter; he plans the drives and places the guns
- Never given
- Chapters 14 and 15
Who they are in the book
Spoiler-freeIn chapter 14 John Flory, the English timber merchant at the centre of the novel, takes Elizabeth Lackersteen, the young Englishwoman he hopes to marry, out shooting near a Burmese fishing village. Six young men turn up to work as beaters, driving game towards the guns, and an old man arrives at the head of them. He is a hunter, and for the afternoon he is the one running the shoot. He is never named.
He is the only person on the trip who knows what he is doing at every stage, and George Orwell lets him run it. He decides which patch of scrub is beaten first, he explains each move to Flory, and he tells the two Europeans exactly where to stand, pointing with the heavy knife he carries.
Before the first drive he holds a small ceremony. One of the beaters kneels in front of a hawthorn-like tree, bowing and talking to it, while the old hunter pours a bottle of cloudy liquid onto the ground. Flory explains to Elizabeth that they are making an offering to the local spirits, called nats, and asking for good luck. The rest of the beaters stand and watch with the serious, bored faces of men in church. The hunter comes back and reports that the plan has changed: they will beat a patch of scrub to the right first, because the nat advised it.
How the book draws them
- How the book draws himStringy but active, grey-haired, and old. His cloth is hitched up like a loincloth, and his thin thighs are covered in dark blue tattoo patterns so fine that Orwell says he might be wearing lace drawers.
- Who follows himSix shock-headed young men carrying broad knives over their shoulders. They come down the path together to the headman's house, and one of them gives a hoarse whoop to announce that the beaters have arrived.
- The offeringHe pours a bottle of some cloudy liquid onto the ground before the first drive while a beater kneels and bows to a small tree. It is an offering to the nats, the local spirits, for luck.
- Taking the nat's adviceHe comes back from the ceremony and explains, in a cracked voice, that they will beat a small patch of scrub to the right before going on to the main jungle. The change of plan came from the spirit.
- Placing the gunsHe directs Flory and Elizabeth where to stand, pointing with his knife, and sends the six beaters off to make a detour and drive back towards the paddy fields.
- Running the afternoonAfter the fifth drive it is the hunter who decides they will cross the pineapple clearing and work the jungle beyond it, which is where the leopard is found.