"Shaym Selvadurai's Funny Boy concerns the loneliness & humiliation of a person." Discuss your views with regard to the above statement.(A person...

I would argue that the statement only captures part of the
novel's scenario. There are certainly several instances through the narrative that
stress the humilation that Arjie has to endure, primarily because of his inability to
fit into the male-female gender dichotomy (ethnicity too plays an increasingly inportant
part as the novel unfolds). The novel tellingly begins with a description of the garden
of the house where Arjie's extended family lives. The space is clearly divided into two
parts: one for the boys and one for the girls. Yet, Arjie is included in the second
territory where he seems to "gravitate naturally". The humiliation initially comes from
within his family where his father obsesses that his son will turn out funny. This
obsession leads him to enroll his son into the "Queen Victoria Academy", an institution
where, as his brother warns Arjie, "you are a man. Either you take it like a man or
other boys will look down on you”. Ironically, it is thanks to the Victoria Academy that
Arjie will discover gay sex.

The ethnic riots between Tamil
and Sinhalese groups that violently erupt towards the end of the novel lead to the
destruction of Arjie's home. Arjie then articulates his despair and loneliness: "I felt
hot, angry tears began to well up in me as I saw this final violation. Then, for the
first time, I began to cry for our house. I sat on the verandah steps and wept for the
loss of my home, for the loss of everything that I held to be precious." This passage
comes right after Arjie his final meeting with his lover Shehan and stresses the
character's loneliness.

Yet, the book also powerfully tells
another story, that of Arjie's sexual awakening and his increasing acceptance of his
homosexuality. The novel affirms the central character's growth from boy to man as he
realizes that he has to challenge social conventions if he wants to be happy. The
distance that he feels from his family and his society is therefore liberating. The
novel finally affirms Arjie's sense of identity as a homosexual and his ability to
overcome the social humiliations he has been subjected to.