Funny Boy – set against the increasing violence between a between Sinhalese and Tamil in Sri Lank, culminating in the civil war which lasted for almost a decade(1983-1991).

The author Shyam Selvadurai and his family are forced into exile after the 1983 racial riot against the Tamil in Colombo.

The protagonist, "Arjie" Chelvaratnam, is the second-son of a privileged middle-class Tamil family in Colombo.

Sinhalese（僧伽羅人）migrated from Northern India to Sri Lanka since 5th-6th century BCE, while Tamil (坦米爾人 ) came from Southern India around since 2th BCE.

Sinhalese -- Buddhism Tamil -- Hinduism, more sent to Sri Lanka by

the British government and supported by the latter.

Since its independence as Ceylon, the Sinhalese (80% majority) put forth “Sinhala Only Law” in support of their political power, which causes discontent among the Tamil people (20%).

Why can’t Arjie play bride-bride? “Because the sky is so high and pigs

can’t fly.” (19) What does the sky mean? What does

being “funny” mean? Is he “funny” because he is

homosexual?

Funny --either humorous or strange (17); disgust

But Meena also crosses gender boundaries in playing the cricket game.

The other girls do, too, in the bride-bride game.

Arjie’s view of being a bride (5) and jewel and sari (15)

the story is about the ideological system (the sky), and the power struggle within it.

What does "spend-the-day" mean for both the adults and the kids, maybe excepting the servant cook who cannot have a break? (pp. 1-2)

How are the boys' game and girls' game divided up and located? (p. 3)

What are the rules of the boys' cricket game and the girls' Bride-Bride?   Do these rules make sense?   Do these groups' structure reflect that of adults, or not? 

Why does Her Fatness want to be the bride?

What gender roles do Arjie and Her Fatness take respectively in their power struggle? 

If Arjie is the one to be ordered back to the realm of men, who else also crosses the gender boundaries in this story? 

Arjie as the leader because of “the force of his imagination”(p. 4)

His imagination– allows him to "leave the constraints of [his] self and ascend into another, more brilliant, more beautiful self" (5).

Still conditioned by the goddesses of the Sinhalese and Tamil cinema (breaking the racial boundary).

A world for girls – the groom the most useless (p. 6)

Competition -- with winning as the goal;

trading players › less powerful ones: Sanjay› girlie-boy: Arjie

the batting order – p. 26 › Numbers marked in the sand for the

players to step on; › The older and better ones play first

Her Fatness – in need of attention › An outsider › Kanthi Aunt – her anger (p. 8)

Wins attention › by lying (7) › by showing off the dolls (p. 8) –which is

less powerful than the bride-bride game; › by playing a loud groom (9) › by appealing to traditional gender

boundaries (11) “A girl must be the bride.”

Insisting on the rule to be the first one to play so that he becomes offensive and can run away

the sari in the bag as a weapon Agrees to play the groom, and then

attracts the other girls’ attention. Sari gone – so is his power.

Amachi and her cane p. 38 The seaside and the tall building as a

mirage p. 38