Social contrasts and gender boundaries create oppression and injustice amongst the characters in Shyam Selvadurai's Funny Boy. This injustice affects the composure and behaviour of the characters throughout the novel and it appears in every aspect throughout Funny Boy. Oppression emerges within the Chelvaratnam family, who are displeased by Arjie's "tendencies", and the likelihood that he will grow up "funny." Oppression also surfaces between the Sinhalese and Tamils with ethnic riots in Sri Lanka's society. Even when Arjie is not involved, he still manages to appear at the center of every oppressive and unjust situation.

Arjie experiences his first gender boundary when he is no longer permitted to play with the other girls during his spend-the-days. He is forced to conform to his family's' belief of normality. This is an interesting situation, because the fact that the only boy was the bride every time the girls played was...