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Jegan Parameswaran
A burgher journalist who grew up in Sri Lanka with Amma but has been living in Australia for more than a decade. In the chapter “See No Evil, Hear No Evil,” Daryl Uncle visits in order to investigate the government’s abuses of power under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. While Arjie’s whole family ridicules him for reading Little Women, Daryl mentions his own affinity for the book and buys him the sequels, which brings them closer together. However, the rest of the family—especially Neliya Aunty—openly resents Daryl and his close relationship with Amma. During a trip with Daryl and Amma to the mountains in central Sri Lanka, Arjie begins to feel the same way, especially as he realizes that Daryl and Amma’s relationship used to be romantic long ago, before he left Sri Lanka; they could never marry because he was white and she was Tamil. After this trip, Daryl goes to Jaffna to research his story, but he never returns; his body washes up on the shore of a fishing village, and Amma is confident that the government is to blame. Daryl’s death shows the danger in pursuing justice and forces Arjie to think about how to balance his desire to confront power with the need to stay safe.
Daryl Uncle Quotes in Funny Boy
The Funny Boy quotes below are all either spoken by Daryl Uncle or refer to Daryl Uncle. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
3. See No Evil, Hear No Evil
Quotes
“You’re putting your life at risk for nothing,” Amma insisted.
“It’s not nothing,” Daryl Uncle said. “People are being tortured and killed even as we sit in all this opulence.”
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As I looked around me, I felt an odd sensation. Our daily routine had been cast away, while the rest of the world was going on as usual. A man I had known, a man who was my mother’s lover, was now dead. I was aware that it was a significant thing, a momentous event in my life even, but, like a newspaper report on an earthquake or a volcanic eruption, it seemed something that happened outside my reality, my world.
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“So what must we do?”
“Nothing, my dear,” he said sadly.
Amma looked at him, shocked. “Nothing?” she said.
“These days one must be like the three wise monkeys. See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.”
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4. Small Choices
Quotes
"You know,” she said, “I’ve been thinking about emigration.”
My father looked at her in shock.
“Canada and Australia are opening their doors. It would be a good time to apply. For the sake of the children.”
My father shook his head emphatically. “I’ll never emigrate. I’ve seen the way our people live in foreign countries.”
“It’s better than living in this terrible uncertainty.”
He turned to Amma angrily. “How can you want to emigrate? You saw the way our friends lived when we went to America. They come here and flash their dollars around, but over there they’re nothing.”
“It’s not a question of wanting or not wanting to go. We have to think about the children.”
“Don’t worry,” my father said. “Things will work out.”
And then after a while, “Besides, what would I do there? The only job I’d be fit for would be a taxi driver or a petrol station man.”
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Daryl Uncle Quotes in Funny Boy
The Funny Boy quotes below are all either spoken by Daryl Uncle or refer to Daryl Uncle. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
3. See No Evil, Hear No Evil
Quotes
“You’re putting your life at risk for nothing,” Amma insisted.
“It’s not nothing,” Daryl Uncle said. “People are being tortured and killed even as we sit in all this opulence.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
As I looked around me, I felt an odd sensation. Our daily routine had been cast away, while the rest of the world was going on as usual. A man I had known, a man who was my mother’s lover, was now dead. I was aware that it was a significant thing, a momentous event in my life even, but, like a newspaper report on an earthquake or a volcanic eruption, it seemed something that happened outside my reality, my world.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
“So what must we do?”
“Nothing, my dear,” he said sadly.
Amma looked at him, shocked. “Nothing?” she said.
“These days one must be like the three wise monkeys. See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
4. Small Choices
Quotes
"You know,” she said, “I’ve been thinking about emigration.”
My father looked at her in shock.
“Canada and Australia are opening their doors. It would be a good time to apply. For the sake of the children.”
My father shook his head emphatically. “I’ll never emigrate. I’ve seen the way our people live in foreign countries.”
“It’s better than living in this terrible uncertainty.”
He turned to Amma angrily. “How can you want to emigrate? You saw the way our friends lived when we went to America. They come here and flash their dollars around, but over there they’re nothing.”
“It’s not a question of wanting or not wanting to go. We have to think about the children.”
“Don’t worry,” my father said. “Things will work out.”
And then after a while, “Besides, what would I do there? The only job I’d be fit for would be a taxi driver or a petrol station man.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
