*There are a few minor spoilers throughout this whole post in order to explain the song choices. There are only three major spoilers. Now, with that warning out of the way, enjoy the rest of this blog post! :)
*I also suggest listening to these songs as you read this post!
Recently, I found myself not knowing what I wanted to read. There were many books on my “To Be Read” list, but I could not access any of them. As a result, I decided to do some research to find a book that I could read. Eventually, I came across Funny Boy by Shyam Selvadurai, which I quickly became interested in. What stuck out to me about this book was the fact that it was set in Sri Lanka, which is where my parents are from. The familiarity of the novel’s setting, language, and culture excited me because it was not something I have ever read before. My interest in this book only grew as I kept reading.
Funny Boy is an emotional, moving story whose main character, Arjie, is a Tamil living in Sri Lanka during a very historical time period: the Sri Lankan Civil War. The novel does not explain every detail of the war, since that would be very hard to do well, so I had to ask many questions to my dad. In the most simple terms, the Sri Lankan Civil War was a conflict between the Sinhalese and Tamils, which are two major ethnic groups in Sri Lanka. It lasted for many years (1983-2009), and the whole story is very complicated. The war was not at all one-sided; both Tamils and Sinhalese did horrible things to each other. The two key groups in this war were the Sinhalese government and the Tamil Tigers, who were an infamous separatist group fighting to separate the country into two divisions, with one being home to Tamils in Northeastern Sri Lanka. The reason for the divide between these groups is quite complicated, and I would recommend looking into the history behind it. It is interesting yet also incredibly heartbreaking.
Funny Boy not only brings attention to this political situation but also to themes of relationships and family. The novel is divided into six major stories, with each story focusing on a different relationship, conflict, and topic. Together, the six stories create one larger story and plot, creating an engaging, emotional, and overall amazing coming-of-age novel. In this blog post, I want to share a playlist of songs I think fit the themes and emotions found in the six different stories as well as the overall narrative in Funny Boy.
“Pigs Can’t Fly”
Song #1: “Mother Knows Best” from Disney’s “Tangled” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7jWt3JvJto
The first story in Funny Boy is “Pigs Can’t Fly,” where Arjie’s family members are introduced. This story, set in Arjie’s early childhood, introduces many important characters, with his family being the main focus. The first main familial relationship is between Arjie and a group of female cousins he used to play with. They would play a game called “bride-bride” in which the kids would act out a marriage. Arjie was always the bride in the scenario, and they all enjoyed this. However, Arjie's cousin, Tanuja, wants to be the bride instead, causing a huge conflict among the kids.
Adding to the conflict, Arjie’s mother, Amma (“Amma” means mother in both Sinhalese and Tamil), finds out about this game. She is the second important familial member introduced in this first story, and she plays a key role in the plot. Arjie’s participation in such a game comes as a shock to Amma and the family, with Cyril Uncle commenting, “Looks like you have a funny one here” (Selvadurai 14). Upon being asked why he cannot play with the girls, Amma replies to Arjie simply with, “Because the sky is so high and pigs can’t fly, that’s why,” referencing the title of this chapter (Selvadurai 19). Arjie feels like an outsider as his mother emphasizes what he can and cannot do as a young boy; she says he must play with other boys and do things for boys, like playing cricket (a popular sport in Sri Lanka), which is nothing like what Arjie actually wants to spend his life doing.
This major event leads me to the first song in my playlist: “Mother Knows Best” from the Disney movie, “Tangled.” I think “Mother Knows Best” perfectly encapsulates Amma’s attitude towards Arjie. Although Amma is not at all as manipulative as Mother Gothel, Amma does give a message that she knows best. She wants her child to do what she wants, which is what fits the norms in society during this time. She thinks that what she knows and believes in is what is best for Arjie. Although Mother Gothel’s attitude is more sinister and manipulative, the main message is essentially the same in “Mother Knows Best,” making the song a perfect representation of the conflict in “Pigs Can’t Fly.”
Song #2: “Snail” by Cavetown - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIkuKS-RT9c
Another important aspect of “Pigs Can’t Fly” is the way that Arjie feels as though he is an outsider. He puts it best by saying, “And then there would be the loneliness. I would be caught between the boys’ and the girls’ worlds, not belonging or wanted in either” (Selvadurai 38). Throughout the whole story, Arjie feels like an outsider because he likes to do things that girls conventionally enjoy, such as makeup, wearing dresses, playing with other girls, etc. This feeling is familiar to many people, and I think the best song that represents this feeling is “Snail” by Cavetown.
“Snail” discusses the feeling of not fitting in. One important line found in the lyrics is “Four peculiar limbs and a head that doesn’t fit” (Cavetown 0:31). This line refers to feeling out of place due to aspects of yourself that you cannot control. This represents Arjie in “Pigs Can’t Fly” because he cannot control how he is. In addition, the lines “I just want to be a kid / but I don’t wanna be a kid / who was born like this” represent the feeling of not wanting to be an outsider (Cavetown 3:26). Arjie feels similarly in not wanting to be an outsider. All Arjie wants is to play with the other kids, free of judgment and punishment from his family.
“Radha Aunty”
*Spoiler Warning for this third story
Song #3: “Muhuden Eha” by Shiral Devmal - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEs0Gu0UXKc
Similar to “Pigs Can’t Fly,” “Radha Aunty” focuses on another relationship between Arjie and a family member, his aunt. Arjie’s aunt, Radha Aunty, is the main focus in the second chapter, which tells the story of Radha’s love life. It focuses on two men related to Radha’s life: Rajan and Anil. Rajan, a Tamil man, was Radha Aunty’s first love interest, and in fact, he proposes to Radha Aunty in the second chapter. However, Radha Aunty also grows incredibly close to Anil, a Sinhalese man who acts in a play Radha Aunty is in. Radha Aunty is Tamil and Anil is Sinhalese, and given the current situation in Sri Lanka, it is understandable that Radha Aunty’s family disapproves of this relationship. However, Radha only grows to love Anil even more.
*Spoiler warning
However, their love is quickly stopped when Radha Aunty and other Tamils are attacked by a group of Sinhalese people while on a train. This scars Radha Aunty, causing a rift in her relationship with Anil. This rift causes them to grow apart, resulting in a much more bitter ending than one would expect in a happy tale about romance.
The divide in Anil and Radha Aunty’s relationship because of their ethnicities can be well represented by a song called “Muhuden Eha” by Shiral Devmal. “Muhuden Eha” tells a story similar to Radha and Anil’s in that it talks about a Sinhalese boy who loves a Tamil girl. The story is also set during the Sri Lankan Civil War, like in Funny Boy. However, while Radha Aunty and Anil’s story have a sad ending, “Muhuden Eha” has a much more bittersweet and unresolved ending with the Tamil girl leaving Sri Lanka because of riots in the country. Despite the different endings, however, I think “Muhuden Eha” perfectly represents this first romance found in Funny Boy.
Song #4: “19” by Stray Kids - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfd6_PIZong
Another important part of “Radha Aunty” is the start of Arjie’s innocence being lost. As these events in his family begin to unfold, Arjie learns more about the political situation in Sri Lanka and begins to learn the severity of this conflict. In addition, his fantasies of romance are essentially shattered by Radha’s love story. Arjie’s innocence is slowly leaving him in this story. He used to believe that love would always prevail over anything else. As stated in the novel, Arjie explained, “I thought of her [Janaki’s] love comics and how fervently I had believed in them; believed that if two people loved each other everything was possible. Now, I knew that this was not so” (Selvadurai 96-97). Radha Aunty and Anil’s story broke Arjie’s childhood fantasy about love, causing his innocence to slowly fade away.
This loss of innocence leads me to my fourth song in my playlist, “19” by Stray Kids. Although the specifics of the song’s story differ from Arjie’s experience, the main message is quite similar. “19” tells a story about growing up and transitioning from a teenager into a young adult. The singer of the song longs to go back to the days they were younger. I also sense an implied meaning about the loss of innocence as you grow older, which I feel matches well with Arjie’s experience in “Radha Aunty.” His innocence is slowly fading away as he grows older and learns more about the world, and I think “19” represents this theme well.
“See No Evil, Hear No Evil”
*Spoiler Warning for this third story
Song #5: “Otherside” by eaJ - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJkKiGvLPSM
In the fourth story of Funny Boy, the focus is also on a relationship that Arjie is not directly involved in. “See No Evil, Hear No Evil” tells a story about Amma’s secret love affair with a Burgher (a descendant of Portuguese or Dutch colonizers in Sri Lanka) named Daryl Uncle. At the beginning of this story, Daryl Uncle returns to Sri Lanka from Australia with the hopes to investigate the Tamil and Sinhalese conflict in Sri Lanka. As he visits Arjie’s family, Arjie quickly picks up on the affair between him and Amma. Amma’s love for Daryl Uncle is present throughout this story, mainly through her protectiveness. When Daryl Uncle wants to travel to Jaffna to continue his investigation, Amma is highly against it. However, despite Amma’s efforts to stop him, Daryl Uncle travels to Jaffna anyway.
*Spoiler warning
After some time, the family grows worried because of Daryl’s prolonged silence, and soon, they hear that Daryl’s dead body was found on the beach. Although they were told that he drowned, Amma suspects that he was murdered first and tries to further investigate the situation. However, her lawyer advises against this, referencing the three blind monkeys. He says that “one must be like the three wise monkeys. See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil,” explaining that Amma must stay quiet for the sake of her and her family; it is not worth the risk (Selvadurai 137). Of course, this is not what Amma wants, as she mourns the loss of her lover and friend. However, she learns to let go and move on, finally realizing the danger of investigating further.
For this story, I chose “Otherside” by eaJ to add to my playlist. “Otherside” is about the loss of a loved one and trying to move on. I thought “Otherside,” it being a song of mourning, represents well how Amma must feel after losing Daryl Uncle. Similar to the story of “Otherside,” she mourns Daryl’s death and struggles to move on.
“Small Choices”
Song #6: “I Wish” by Seventeen
Official Audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0zFC0QA3Yc
Lyric translation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYYvD61JWvo
“Small Choices” marks the beginning of Arjie’s discovery of his sexuality. His realization begins when he meets Jegan, who is the son of Appa’s friend (Appa is Arjie’s father, and “Appa” means father in Tamil). When he comes to work with Appa, Arjie grows fond of him quite quickly. It is through Jegan that Arjie begins to realize how he feels towards men. He explains his feelings, saying, “Lately, I had found that I looked at men, at the way they were built, the grace with which they carried themselves, the strength of their gestures and movement” (Selvadurai 156). However, this love seems one-sided in this fourth story, which I think can be represented well by the song “I Wish” by Seventeen. “I Wish” tells a similar story about one-sided love, like Arjie and Jegan’s one-sided love story. It tells a story of pain when the person you love does not love you back, which is similar to the pain Arjie feels when he realizes that Jegan does not reciprocate his feelings.
“The Best School of All”
Song #3: “Muhuden Eha” by Shiral Devmal
Song #7: “Rewrite the Stars” from “The Greatest Showman” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yO28Z5_Eyls
In the fifth story of Funny Boy, Arjie’s sexuality is further explored, this time with a boy named Shehan Soyza, who is a Sinhalese boy in Arjie’s new school, Victoria Academy. Appa had placed Arjie in this new, all-boys school in hopes of helping Arjie act more manly. In this school, Arjie meets Shehan, a boy Arjie quickly grows close to. However, Arjie’s brother, Diggy, warns Arjie to stay away from Shehan because he is gay. Despite Diggy’s warnings, Arjie refuses to believe Diggy, and he continues to hang out with Shehan. As they grow closer, Arjie begins to grow more attracted to Shehan.
What makes this relationship interesting is the fact that it is controversial during this period in the book. This is not only because they are gay but also because Arjie is Tamil while Shehan is Sinhalese. There is a divide between them because of the war that is currently going on between the Tamils and Sinhalese, and Arjie notices this.
Arjie and Shehan’s love story can be represented with two songs I added to my playlist for Funny Boy. “Muhuden Eha” by Shiral Devmal not only fits Radha Aunty and Anil’s love story that I mentioned earlier, but it also beautifully represents Arjie and Shehan’s love story. Their relationship almost perfectly fits the love story in “Muhuden Eha” about a Tamil and Sinhalese falling in love but still having a barrier in between them because of their different ethnicities. Overall, “Muhuden Eha” is an exceptional song for the romance found in Funny Boy.
“Rewrite the Stars” from “The Greatest Showman” also well represents Arjie and Shehan’s relationship. “Rewrite the Stars” features two characters who long for each other's love, but there is a divide between them because of their different backgrounds. This perfectly represents Arjie and Shehan’s love for each other. They are a same-sex couple, which is incredibly intolerant in Sri Lankan culture, and on top of this, they are of different ethnic groups in Sri Lanka during a time where there is a huge divide between Tamils and Sinhalese. They should not be together in the eyes of society, yet Shehan and Arjie find a way to stay together, even in secret. Both “Rewrite the Stars” and “Muhuden Eha” represent this relationship incredibly well, which is why I added them to this playlist.
“Riot Journal: An Epilogue”
*Major spoiler warning for this final story
Song #8: “Goodbye Winter” by Day6
Official Audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-S7aS0o7y4
Lyric Translation (Live Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxOGxgBeC8k
Funny Boy concludes its tale with the sixth story, “Riot Journal: An Epilogue,” which is a series of journal entries written by Arjie as riots are occurring across the country. As the riots occur, Arjie journals, letting the reader see his thoughts and emotions clearly. The mood of the story progressively becomes more emotional and depressing, bringing a sense of reality into this section of the book. (*Spoiler warning!) This is especially apparent near the ending. In this final scene, Arjie visits his old house before he leaves for Canada as a refugee. This house is now destroyed as a result of the war in Sri Lanka. Arjie’s feeling of hopelessness and depression as he sees the destruction is so clear and moving as you read this scene. He weeps for the first time as his writing explains, “I sat on the verandah steps and wept for the loss of my house, for the loss of everything that I held to be precious… my voice cried out loudly as if it were the only weapon I had against those who had destroyed my life” (Selvadurai 305). This scene’s feeling of mourning and desperation leads me to the final song in my playlist: “Goodbye Winter” by Day6.
“Goodbye Winter” tells a story of letting go of the past, often saying the phrase “Gotta let go” (Day6 1:08). This is similar to how Arjie is letting go of his own past now that it is destroyed and gone. “Goodbye Winter” also has a distinct feeling of desperation that is present in the final scene of Funny Boy. These aspects of “Goodbye Winter” seem to also represent the emotional atmosphere of the novel as a whole, which is another reason why I added it to my playlist for Funny Boy.
Overall, Funny Boy is an incredible, emotional novel I feel everyone should read. It has a moving and emotional story that captivates you, making you want to read more and more. The representation not just with race and ethnicity (specifically Tamils, Sinhalese, and Burghers) but also with sexuality (specifically homosexuality) is wonderful to see. It is filled with emotion that will stay with you even after you finish the novel, and its story will make you cry. If I had to pick two songs that perfectly encompass Funny Boy, they would be “Muhuden Eha” by Shiral Devmal and “Goodbye Winter” by Day6. “Muhuden Eha” represents the two main love stories in Funny Boy with their divide and love for each other despite that divide. In contrast, “Goodbye Winter” captures the feeling of desperation, mourning, and letting go found throughout the novel. Although bittersweet and sad, Funny Boy is such a beautiful story that I will never forget.
Works Cited
Cavetown. “Snail.” YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIkuKS-RT9c.
Day6. “Goodbye Winter.” YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-S7aS0o7y4.
Selvadurai, Shyam. Funny Boy. Kindle ed., McClelland & Stewart, 1994.
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