Funny Boy by Shyam Selvadurai

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

• an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960.
• Now with over 30 million copies in print and translated into forty languages.
• Today it is regarded as a masterpiece of American literature.

Work Cited

“To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.” Goodreads, Goodreads, 23 May 2006, www.goodreads.com/book/show/2657.To_Kill_a_Mockingbird.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

• A poignant and moving tale filled with compassion and cruelty, laughter and heartache, crowded with life and people and incident.
• Work of literary art that brilliantly captures a unique time and place as well as incredibly rich moments of universal experience.

Work Cited

“A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith.” Goodreads, Goodreads, 30 May 2006, www.goodreads.com/book/show/14891A_Tree_Grows_in_Brooklyn ?from_search=true.

Sexism existed in the society

Sexism has always been a major issue for every gender. In this fiction, Arjie is a homosexual and he always prefer to hangout with his girl cousins. He plays the ‘bride’ role in the game of ‘bride bride’. However, his family does not accept the fact that he is having some girlish behaviours and forces him to play cricket with his boy cousins. Arjie is forced to maintain a respectable male identity. Being a homosexual is seen as weird and funny behaviours in the society (South-Asia).

Textual Evidence

“Why?” I [Arjie] asked, ignoring her gesture. “Why do I have to play with the boys?”

“Why?” Amma said. “Because the sky is so high and pigs can't fly, that’s why.” (Selvadurai 19)

“You’re [Arjie is] a big boy now. And big boys must play with other boys” (Selvadurai 20)

Research Evidence

“The child protagonist, Arjie, is oblivious to the larger historical backdrop against which his own narrative is enacted.” (Hawley, 2000)

Work Cited:

Hawley, John C. "The Role of Sexuality in Nation-Building: Shyam Selvadurai’s Funny Boy and Timothy Mo’s The Redundancy of Courage." Contemporary Literary Criticism, edited by Jennifer Stock, vol. 435, Gale, 2018. Literature Resource Center

Physical and mental changes due to puberty

Physical and mental changes of the main character are one of the main element of coming of age novels. As a homosexual, Arjie starts noticing changes in his body and his mind. The way he has looked at men when he was kid has changed now. Now he looks at men and notices their shape of body and how well-built they are. And he also dreams about men. Physically, Arjie notices changes in his voice and wetness in his clothes when he wakes up which are due to his puberty.

Textual Evidence

“Sometimes these men were present in my dreams. I[Arjie] felt the reason for this sudden admiration of men were present in my dreams. I[Arjie] felt the reason for this sudden admiration of men had to do with my distress over the recent changes in my voice sometimes slid embarrassingly into a high pitch. Also, I[Arjie] had started notice a wetness on my sarong in the morning. [...] But I[Arjie] longed to pass this awkward phase, to become as physically attractive and graceful as the men I[Arjie] saw around me.” (Selvadurai 161)

Research Evidence

“Physical development is a critical part of coming of age. Arjie's teenage years bring many changes not only physically, but also mentally and socially. As Arjie goes through the physical changes of adolescence, he begins to experience a wire range of feelings”

Work Cited:

Godakanda, Anupama. “Phoenix.” "In Funny Boy through Arjie's Experience Shyam Selvadurai Provides a Valid and Largely Objective Commentary on the Problems Confronting Minority Ethnicities and Homosexuality in Sri Lanka."., 1 Jan. 1997, poenix-ii.blogspot.com/2016/11/in-funny-boy-through-arjies-experience.html.

Arjie’s triumph of finding a love

Love is the most important element of Coming of Age novels. Love in adolescence is usually for a friendship feeling, romantic excitement, sexual attraction, mutual enjoyment or social compatibility. Arjie and Soyza fall in love and at some point they also have sex. This love can be seen as a romantic excitement and mutual enjoyment. Arjie faces many circumstances in the society due to his gender difference and the relationship with another boy from a diffrent race.

Textual Evidence

“He [Soyza] laughed out loud and grabbed hold of me, spinning me around with him. Then he did a most unexpected thing. Quickly, before I[Arjie] was aware of what was happening, he kissed me on the lips.” (Selvadurai 249)

“I[Arjie] did it for you[Soyza]. I[Arjie] could not bear to to see you[Soyza] suffer anymore” (Selvadurai 249)

Research Evidence

“Perhaps the novel’s most notable relationship is the one between Arjie and his partner Shehan is the last two chapters. It is distinct in the sense that aside from being affected by the ethnic identities of the two partners involved, it is also affected by their sexual identities. In addition to one being Tamil and the other Sinhalese, they are both homosexuals.” (González Acosta, 2018)

Work Cited:

“Perhaps the novel’s most notable relationship is the one between Arjie and his partner Shehan is the last two chapters. It is distinct in the sense that aside from being affected by the ethnic identities of the two partners involved, it is also affected by their sexual identities. In addition to one being Tamil and the other Sinhalese, they are both homosexuals.” (González Acosta, 2018)

Lyrics from a song called “Sadhayai Meeri” by Santhosh Narayanan

“It is a splash of hormone paintings, It is not a mistake. Rather a course of nature. Only when we realize this, the third gender will alive. Was God on vacation, when the third gender was created? Even today, people call it a sin.”

Work Cited

India, Think Music. “Sadhayai Meeri Official Video Song Stand By Me Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi Santhosh Narayanan.” YouTube, YouTube, 14 Feb. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBS_gXN5y3U.

TNT Boys preparing for the challenges of puberty

Members of the cute trio known as the TNT Boys are about to hit puberty. This is why Francis Concepcion, 12, Mackie Empuerto, 13, and Keifer Sanchez, who will turn 14 on Nov. 25, are getting ready for the physical changes they will experience.

They are well aware that as they go through puberty, their voices will become deeper, and may sometimes crack or break as their bodies adjust to the changes.

The TNT Boys has since performed in several international talent shows, including “Little Big Shots” in the US, UK and Australia.

Work Cited

Cruz, Marinel R. “TNT Boys Preparing for the Challenges of Puberty.” Inquirer Entertainment Nobel Laureate Bob Dylan Uneasy Voice of a Generation Comments, Inquirer Entertainment, entertainment.inquirer.net/306305/tnt-boys-preparing-for-the-challenges-of-puberty.

Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black

Tom Daley, a World champion at diving and Dustin Lance Black, an American screenwriter, director and a television personality have been in a relationship since 2013. Tom Daley was eighteen when he met his boyfriend Dustin Lance Black. Tom was a teenager when he started dating Dustin Lance Black who was 20 years older than him. Now they create a reputation for gay marriage. The gay couple was blessed with a son in June, 2018 with a surrogate mother.

Work Cited

Mailonline, Sophie Inge For. “Tom Daley Opens up about His Relationship.” Daily Mail Online, Associated Newspapers, 4 Dec. 2017, www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-5142339/Tom-Daley-opens-relationship.html.