Who is Dan Lackersteen from Burmese Days and what is their importance?

Lackersteen, born circa 1884, is a local manager of an English timber firm. Florid, and about forty years old, his only concern in life is trying to have a good time, which, like most men, he defines as heavy drinking and carousing with younger women. He is married, however. Upon her return from their first lengthy separation, Mrs. Lackersteen discovered her husband drunk and naked, carousing with three drunk, naked, and young Burmese girls. She has subsequently watched over him like a cat watches a mouse hole. Lackersteen is usually drunk, getting drunk, hung over, or some combination of the three. Lackersteen is outspoken in his racist views, though he particularly emphasizes them in the presence of Mrs. Lackersteen in an attempt to gain her admiration.