Summary
In “Pigs Can’t Fly,” the first chapter of Funny Boy, the protagonist and narrator Arjie describes his favorite childhood game, Bride-Bride, and the circumstances surrounding his eventual exclusion from the game. This story is the first time Arjie is confronted by his potential otherness by the adult world. When the adults find out about the game Arjie plays with his female cousins, his Cyril Uncle says, “looks like you have a funny one here.” Arjie must then face the consequences of his otherness by no longer being allowed to play with his cousins.
The chapter begins by describing how each month Arjie and his cousins would have time off from school on “spend-a-days” when their parents would then drop them off to play at the house of their Ammachi and Appachi (grandmother and grandfather). In order to minimize disputes, the cousins would divide the property between boys and girls. The boys’ area would include the front yard and the road, while the girls would play on the back porch and garden areas. However, within each group, there were exceptions to the gender division—female cousin Meena would play cricket with the boys, while Arjie would play make-believe games with the female cousins. The cousins would then organize around a leader within each group to further prevent conflict. In the boys’ group, the leadership went to the most skilled and powerful cricket player. In the girls’ group, leadership was granted to Arjie for being the most creative.
Arjie enjoyed many spend-a-days with his girl cousins; they explored different pretend-play situations such as: Thumbelina, Cinderella, Cooking-Cooking, and Arjie’s favorite, Bride-Bride. Bride-Bride was a game of recreating a traditional wedding ceremony. As a reward for his creativity, Arjie was granted the role of bride. The best part of this game for Arjie was in the adornment of the bride. Each cousin would spend weeks preparing and gathering items for the game; Arjie would bring the most important item—an old sari—in his sling bag.
However, once Arjie’s cousin Tanuja, nicknamed Her Fatness, moves back to Sri Lanka from America, she exposes the game and hierarchy to her mother, Kanthi Aunty, and thus brings the unforgiving judgment of the adult world into the play. At first, when Tanuja arrives, she accepts the hierarchy and complies with the role of playing the groom (the least desired role by the cousins). However, Tanuja’s take on the role of the groom as a boisterous, demanding character questions the established equilibrium of the game and forces Arjie to confront her. Tanuja appeals to her mother, Kanthi Aunty, who questions the entire game and Arjie’s role as bride.
Kanthi Aunty exposes Arjie by bringing him in front of all of the adult family members in his Bride-Bride costume. Arjie’s father is humiliated and berates his mother, Amma, for encouraging Arjie’s play—from this point on, his parents become involved in refereeing his play. Arjie is no longer allowed to watch his mother get ready, which had previously been one of his favorite activities, nor is he allowed to play with the girls. He instead must play cricket with the boy cousins.
Arjie is unable to accept his punishment. He desperately devises a plan to reclaim his free play by tricking the boys into dismissing him from the cricket game. Arjie then tries to sabotage the girl’s game of Bride-Bride by hiding the sari. However, Tanuja, Her Fatness, has already stolen and hidden the sari by the time Arjie tries to use the garment as leverage. A fight ensues between Arjie and Tanuja. In the scuffle, the sari is ripped and Arjie is blamed for the incident as he was not to play with the girls in the first place. He faces punishment by Ammachi and can no longer play with either set of cousins and must instead do chores around the house.
After he is punished again by Ammachi, Arjie is fed up and runs away to the beach. At the beach, he finds the bright light of the midday sun grating and harsh; he is not used to the beach at this time of day. He reflects on how he will “never enter the girls’ world again” (38). But as the bell of the local church rings, he realizes the punishment for this act of running away will be worse than the satisfaction of his defiance and reluctantly returns home, accepting that this part of his childhood has irrevocably changed.
Analysis
In the first chapter of “Pigs Can’t Fly,” Arjie describes his first major break from the childhood world as he is prevented from playing the game Bride-Bride with his female cousins. In his world of play, Arjie is able to imagine a reality where he is afforded the attention and adoration of a bride. However, when the adults examine this game, they force him to abandon this imagined reality. Through this drama, this first section introduces the themes of appropriate play, the tension between the child and adult worlds, and societal expectations.
Tanuja, Archie’s cousin, serves as a foil for Arjie. Arjie wins his role as the bride in Bride-Bride with his imagination and creativity. When Tanuja, Her Fatness, arrives, she uses her own imagination to change the game. Tanuja upsets the status quo by challenging Arjie’s vision. Both children possess creativity and leadership that would make them possible leaders, but Tanuja wins their conflict by tattling on Arjie and bringing the adults in to moderate their game. Previously, the game existed in the world of children’s play, and in this world, Arjie expresses himself and his desires. However, once the adults find out about the game, they impose societal ideas of proper gender roles and prevent Arjie from continuing to play the game as it does not align with how a normal boy should play. Tanuja then assumes leadership in the game of Bride-Bride because her gender makes it acceptable to play these sorts of games, further highlighting Arjie’s difference.
The physical space and territoriality of how the children play symbolizes the different spheres of gender. Arjie’s gender and sexual identity do not fit within the traditional bounds of masculine play, and also do not fit in the world of the girls’ play. As a young child, Arjie was allowed to defy gender expectations and play with the girls; however, when he faces scrutiny from the adults, his challenge to gender roles is no longer tolerated and he must occupy a lonely and difficult in-between space where he faces harsh judgment.
After his exposure, Arjie is suspended between both worlds—he must work inside the house while both groups continue playing on either side of the house. This recalls the undesirable territories marginalized people who do not easily fit within gender stereotypes are forced to occupy in society. Arjie begins to detect the contradictions and layered meanings of the adult world. His grandmother forces him to kiss her but the diamond mukkuthi pricks his cheek. This affectionate gesture and piece of jewelry cause him pain. In Kanthi Aunty’s tone that is “as heavily scented as undiluted rose syrup,” he senses that “beneath her benevolence lurked a seething anger, tempered by guile that could have deadly consequences if unleashed in our direction.” He begins to understand the conflicting and nuanced gestures of the adult world. The imagery of “the remembered innocence of childhood” that is “now colored in the hues of the twilight sky” at the beginning of the chapter signals that this part of his life is ending. Twilight is a fleeting and temporal part of the day, followed quickly by darkness. This passage implies that Arjie’s childhood memories of spend-a-days will soon lead to less pleasant adulthood. This imagery continues when Arjie uses a simile to compare his exclusion from the girl’s world with ships leaving safe harbors for treacherous waters.
At the end of the chapter when Arjie runs to the beach after finally accepting his exile from the girls’ world, he finds the crests of the beach “frothing and hissing.” Previously during his childhood, his family would visit the beach in the evening when the ocean was a “turquoise blue,” but at this point the “midday sun” has turned the waters a “hard silver” so bright that it pains his eyes. As he reaches the edges of the ocean, he finds an unfamiliar and uncomfortable view greeting him, symbolizing that he has reached the precipice from child to adulthood.
