South Asian Culture Limiting Growth The power of choice should be given to oneself, especially in marriage, because like Jared Kintz “[His] first marriage was an arranged marriage. [He] arranged it [him]self”. In the novel Funny Boy, by Shyam Selvadurai displays is the struggle that the protagonist Arjie faces from his simplistic childhood to incomprehensible adulthood, as he suffers to open the gated feelings from his heart. Similarly the novel Cinnamon Gardens, by Shyam Selvadurai set in the nineteen-twenties, Colombo, Sri Lanka, the novel presents parallel threads, one being the journey of Annalukshmi, a twenty-three year old girl who is feisty, spirited and education, but must set her career-life aside to get married by arrangement. While,…show more content… This is seen through his use of metaphor in both texts. In Funny Boy, the main focus may have pertained to Arjie’s sexuality, but it revolved around the Civil war happening in Sri Lanka. The harsh upbringings during this war metaphorically relates to his inner turmoil of erotic awakening (Selvadurai 68). Likewise, Balendran struggles to confess his homosexual feelings, to his father, who has a strong opinion against it. His rekindling moments with Richard, his ex-boyfriend, felt “their friendship coming to an end…to that of a creaking close of an ancient door” (Selvadurai 188). Arjie is very confused with his sexuality, and compares that pain to a treacherous experience that shapes his adolescence. While, Balendran blames his “ancient” culture to close doors with Richard. Selvadurai uses the form of metaphor to compare how both male protagonists’ culture causes them to stay behind the closed door. In terms of context, Arjie and Balendran could not grow past societal restrictions, resulting Arjie fleeing to Canada, and Balendran using his “half-courage” to bury the past he wished never happened. Following this, both texts use foreshadowing to hint the reader at what danger lies ahead for the character that clashes with society’s cultural values. In Cinnamon Gardens, Balendran’s views again…show more content… For instance, a rhetorical device that consists of repetitive sequence of words at the beginning of neighbouring clause, otherwise known as anaphora, emphasizes how the character feels when trying to open up. Arjie’s mom decides to invite Shehan, the boy Arjie has secret feelings for, failing to realize just how close Arjie and Shehan are; only for his friend to question if that is a good idea because, they would find out he is homosexual. However, “[he] knew that he was talking about what [his] father seemed to fear was wrong with [him]. [He] straightened up in [his] chair and watch [Diggy] carefully” but when asked how he likes Shehan, “[he] was not sure how to answer this. ‘[he] just like[s] him’… [he] fiddled with the lock on [his] diary, disconcerted” (Selvadurai 255). In the same way, in the final chapters of Cinnamon Gardens, Balendran writes his final letter to Richard “asking for [his] friendship. This may be difficult for [him], but ask [he] must, [he is] trying, by this request… [he] have lived so much of[his] existence not asking what [he] wanted, [he] lived so much with half courage, half attempts, half feelings” (Selvadurai 385). Throughout both texts, the style of writing is fast paced and uses repetitive “I’s” instead of “he”. The male protagonists use this repetitive method to signify the fear of coming out, as the pace of the text