A quiet masterpiece gay timesin the world of his large family affluent tamils living in colombo, sri lanka arjie is an oddity, a funny boy who prefers dressing as a girl to playing cricket with his brother. At first glance, selvadurais protagonist, arjie, seems equipped for this task. Shyam selvadurairs funny boy analysis english literature essay. The function of the child, as such, is to perform nostalgia. Shyam selvadurai, whose first novel, funny boy 1994, was pub lished in.
You are not alone, it says to the reader, i understand you. Rioters ravage the area, burning down the tamil houses and businesses throughout the town of colombo. Funny boy by shyam selvadurai is narrated as six tales arjies life. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on litcharts. Breaking the narrative ties that bind in shyam selvadurais funny. The childs point of view offers a simple writing style and understanding of the novel, yet the reader is able to uncover complexities revolving around the novel. Selvadurai manages to touch a number of subject in each tale like the curious mind of our teenage protagonist arjie, the plight of the tamils in the communal riots of srilanka, the tension between the tamils and sinhalese etc. Selvadurai has created an endearing character in arjie, an impish boy who is always in trouble with his rigid parents, yet gains the confidence of outsiders.
Get all the key plot points of shyam selvadurais funny boy on one page. In this essay, i read shyam selvadurais funny boy as a counterbildungsroman narrative that braids together radha auntys transgressions of. Funny boy by shyam selvadurai overdrive rakuten overdrive. An epilogue, the tensions between the two sides, the tamils and the sinhalese, in sri lanka has arrived to a head. First published by mcclelland and stewart in september 1994, the novel won the lambda literary award for gay male fiction and the books in canada first novel award set in sri lanka where selvadurai grew up, funny boy is constructed in the form of six poignant stories about a boy coming to age within a wealthy tamil family. Funny boy is a comingofage novel by canadian author shyam selvadurai. Shyam selvadurai s funny boy uses six loosely connected stories to recount the childhood and adolescence of a sri lankan tamil boy, arjie, who comes of age in colombo during the 1970s and 1980s.
A reading of selvaduraisutunny boy shyam journal of military. First published by mcclelland and stewart in september 1994, the novel won the lambda literary award for gay male fiction and the books in canada first novel award. Shyam selvadurai born 12 february 1965 is a sri lankan canadian novelist who wrote funny boy 1994, which won the books in canada first novel award, and cinnamon gardens 1998. He currently lives in toronto with his partner andrew champion. A study of shyam selvadurais funny boy uq espace university. Shyam selvadurai has brought back from his sri lankan childhood a glittering and wise novel. Teach your students to analyze literature like litcharts does.
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