Patriarchy in Shyam Selvadurai’s Pigs Can’t Fly Essay -- Shyam Selvadu

Patriarchy in Shyam Selvadurais Pigs Cant FlyWoman is not born she is made. She becomes the symbol of this and that mother of the earth, hustler of the universe and in the making, her public is destroyed. Andrea Dworkin Patriarchy is a universal system in which women are dominated. Women, in continents as diverse as Iran and China, have been subdue by dint of social measures such as womanly circumcision and bound feet. Yet as Andrea Dworkin so neatly stated, subjugation often takes more indirect forms, by the stereotyping of gender roles, attempts to fix women by stereotyping them as spineless natural homemakers or monstrous hideous figures and thereby justifying patriarchate as through stereotyping men as having more initiative and intelligence. This devious method of subjugating women is similarly reproduced in Shyam Selvandurais Pigs Cant Fly. Although it is ostensibly most a boys childhood, I believe that it reinforces patriarchy through the skilful use of characterizat ion, filters, narrators and setting.Before explicating my argument, I would like to clarify a few key terms I have borrowed mostly from Seymour Chatman in analyzing the story. The only exception, characterization, is E.M. Forsters concept of round and flat characters where flat characters are predictable because they are dominated by a single trait irrelevant round characters with multiple, sometimes conflicting traits dominating their personality. Filter, here, is used to denote what is commonly known as a characters point of view. Narrator-characters are characters that start as characters and narrators or otherwise known as first person narrators.It is fascinating to note that the narrator and filter through whom the story u... ...chal constructions of correct female and male behaviour by appealing to natural laws (Because the sky is so high and pigs cant fly). Arjies unhappiness, however, shows implicit criticism of patriarchy as it cannot satisfy him.It is therefore evident that Pigs Cant Fly is not a simple story about a childs growing up process. Its adept use of various elements of discourse pushes it beyond a simple narrative into the realm of a mature narrative whose enigmatical meanings (over its support for patriarchy) mirrors a world of uncertainty with no absolutes governing. The storys refusal to pigeonhole itself is for me, a source of beauty and complexity. kit and boodle CitedSelvadurai, Shyam. Pigs Cant Fly. Funny Boy. New York Vintage, 1995 1-40. Chatman, Seymour. reputation and Discourse Narrative Structure in Fiction and Film. Ithaca, N.Y. Cornell UP, 1978. Patriarchy in Shyam Selvadurais Pigs Cant Fly render -- Shyam SelvaduPatriarchy in Shyam Selvadurais Pigs Cant FlyWoman is not born she is made. She becomes the symbol of this and that mother of the earth, slut of the universe and in the making, her humanity is destroyed. Andrea Dworkin Patriarchy is a universal system in which women are dominated. Women, in conti nents as diverse as Iran and China, have been subjugated through social measures such as female circumcision and bound feet. Yet as Andrea Dworkin so neatly stated, subjugation often takes more devious forms, through the stereotyping of gender roles, attempts to fix women by stereotyping them as spineless natural homemakers or monstrous hideous figures and thereby justifying patriarchy as through stereotyping men as having more initiative and intelligence. This devious method of subjugating women is similarly reproduced in Shyam Selvandurais Pigs Cant Fly. Although it is ostensibly about a boys childhood, I believe that it reinforces patriarchy through the skilful use of characterization, filters, narrators and setting.Before explicating my argument, I would like to clarify a few key terms I have borrowed mostly from Seymour Chatman in analyzing the story. The only exception, characterization, is E.M. Forsters concept of round and flat characters where flat characters are predictabl e because they are dominated by a single trait unlike round characters with multiple, sometimes conflicting traits dominating their personality. Filter, here, is used to denote what is commonly known as a characters point of view. Narrator-characters are characters that function as characters and narrators or otherwise known as first person narrators.It is fascinating to note that the narrator and filter through whom the story u... ...chal constructions of correct female and male behaviour by appealing to natural laws (Because the sky is so high and pigs cant fly). Arjies unhappiness, however, shows implicit criticism of patriarchy as it cannot satisfy him.It is therefore evident that Pigs Cant Fly is not a simple story about a childs growing up process. Its adept use of various elements of discourse pushes it beyond a simple narrative into the realm of a mature narrative whose ambiguous meanings (over its support for patriarchy) mirrors a world of uncertainty with no absolutes gov erning. The storys refusal to pigeonhole itself is for me, a source of beauty and complexity.Works CitedSelvadurai, Shyam. Pigs Cant Fly. Funny Boy. New York Vintage, 1995 1-40. Chatman, Seymour. Story and Discourse Narrative Structure in Fiction and Film. Ithaca, N.Y. Cornell UP, 1978.