Pigs Can T Fly Analysis

Since the beginning of time, humans have struggled to decide if we should follow our inclinations, society’s wave of customs or our parents’ expectations. It is a decision that happens to an extent subconsciously; however instances occur that we, as humans, naturally follow our instincts. Society has existed since the first civilization -- the Mesopotamians -- and rules, written or not, were meant to be obeyed with no objection. The precedents initiated by the previous generation are to an extent ignored by the later one. In “Pigs Can't Fly” by Shyam Selvadurai, he suggests that the conformity is safest route to life and that it conflicts with opposing personal beliefs.

Initially, Arjie does not experience the tug of war between personal desire …show more content…
Consequently Arjie’s life is altered with a few words. Aunt Kanthi escorted Arjie to the adults and the grandparents as Her Fatness was unsatisfied of the situation. The aunt then revealed an enduring hidden matter. Uncle Cyril makes a comment that “Ey, Chelva [Arjie’s mother]... looks like you have a funny one here’’. This all changes the narrative that Arjie was free from the actual world of civility and the de facto gender customs. Arjie’s dad had a conversation saying “if he turns out funny like that Rankotwera boy, if he turns out to be the laughing-stock of Colombo, it’ll be [Arjie’s mother] fault”. It exemplifies the traditional role of the men blaming the women of being the fault of everything yet the men have no active role in the Sri Lankan society. In this situation neither did the mother have any knowledge of this. Subsequently the mother ordered Arjie was to play with the boys, however they do not accept a “girlie-boy”. The mother was immediately compelled to take action, somewhat of a masculine trait to correct a problem that Arjie had inadvertently produced. However the best quote available is “Life is full of stupid things and sometimes we just have to do them… Why can’t [Arjie] play with the girls? Because the sky is high and pigs can't fly”. It references why the mother had to take swift action, why Arjie had to play with boys, and why society functions the way it does. Amma implies that because the sky …show more content…
Enough is enough is the statement floating in Arjie’s head. He had enough of the push and pull between the norms of society and his own beliefs. “The bell of [the church rang] and its melancholy sound seemed like a summoning. It was time to return… my absence... would be construed as another act of defiance… the punishment I would receive would be even more severe… I…climbed up the rocks. I paused and looked at the sea for one last time… Then I turned, crossed the railway line, and began my walk up Ramanaygam Road to the future that awaited me.” This time the protagonist left. The rocks, sea, railway crossing, the road represents multiple ideas that developed as the story was told. First the rocks, a long, slow struggle are overtaken by a motivation. Next is the sea which produces the a sense of renewal and a world out there that is great and vast with full of fresh new ideas. Also the railway crossing is the choice of Arjie to take a risk and cross it or stop before the track as if the wave of a slowly progressing society is the train travelling on. Finally the road and the name of it is connected to the other “funny kid” who left the village and roads often divide into forks -- the choices appear. Symbolism is prevalent in the story, especially at the end, and it guides the reader to think, to ponder and to consider why the author wrote it in such a way. Arjie is the