Grade 10 & 11 (New Syllabus)

Appreciation of English Literary Texts

Big match-1983
by
(Yasmine Gooneratne)

Content Developed by : Mr. Nanda Gunasekare

R/ Kahangama Buddhist school, Rathnapura.
Big match-1983 English Literature

About the poet

Novelist, Poet, and critic Yasmine Gooneratne, a
graduate of Bishop's college, went on to graduate
from the University of Ceylon in 1959 and also
received a PhD in English Literature from
Cambridge University in 1962.
Gooneratne became a resident of Australia in
1972. In 1981 she was the first, and remains until
now, the only person to receive the higher
doctoral degree of Doctor of Letters ever awarded
by Macquarie University.
She now holds a Personal Chair in English
Literature at Macquarie University, which is
located in New South Wales. From 1989-1993 she
was the Foundation Director of her University’s
Postcolonial Literatures and Languages Research
Center.

Grade 10 & 11
Big match-1983 English Literature

In 1990 Gooneratne became an Officer of the Order of Australia for

distinguished service to literature and education and in that same year
she was also invited to become the Patron of the Jane Austen Society of
Australia. Gooneratne also had a place on a committee appointed by the
Federal Government to review the Australian system of Honors and
Awards from 1994-1995.
Since 1995, she has had positions on both the Australia Abroad Council
and the Visiting Committee of the Faculty of Creative Arts at the
University of Wollongong. In 1998, she became a member of Asialink.
She has been a visiting professor or specialist at many different places
around the world including the following: Edith Cowan University
(Western Australia), University of Michigan (USA), Jawarharlal Nehru
University (India), and the University of the South Pacific (Fiji).

Yasmine Gooneratne is married to Dr. Brendan Gooneratne who is a

physician, environmentalist, and historian. They married in 1962 and
now have two children, a son and a daughter, and currently live in
Sydney, Australia.

Grade 10 & 11
Big match-1983 English Literature
Big Match,1983
Glimpsing the headlines in the newspapers,
tourists scuttle for cover, cancel their options
on rooms with views of temple and holy mountain.
‘Flash point in Paradise.’ ‘Racial pot boils over.’
And even the gone away boy
who had hoped to find lost roots, lost lovers,
lost talent even, out among the palms,
makes timely return giving thanks
that Toronto is quite romantic enough
for his purposes.
Powerless this time to shelter or to share
we strive to be objective, try to trace
the match that lit this sacrificial fire
the steps by which we reached this ravaged place.
We talk of ‘Forty Eight ‘and ‘Fifty Six’,
of freedom and the treacherous politics
of language; see the first sparks of this hate
fanned into flame in Nineteen Fifty Eight,
yet find no comfort in our neat solution,
no calm abstraction, and no absolution.

Grade 10 & 11
Big match-1983 English Literature

The game’s in other hands in any case.

These fires ring factory, and hovel,
and Big Match fever, flaring high and fast,
has both sides in its grip and promises
dizzier scores than any at the oval.
In a tall house dim with old books and pictures
calm hands quit the clamouring telephone.
‘It’s a strange life we’re leading here just now,
not a dull moment. No one can complain
of boredom, that’s for sure. Up all night keeping
watch,
and then as curfew ends and your brave lands
dash out at dawn to start another day
of fun, and games, and general jollity,
I send Padmini and the girls to a neighbor’s
house.
Who, me? - Oh I’m doing fine. I always was
a drinking man you know and nowadays

Grade 10 & 11
Big match-1983 English Literature

I’m stepping up my intake quite a bit,

the general idea being that when those torches
come within fifty feet of this house don’t you see
it won’t be my books that go up first, but me.’
A pause. Then, steady and every bit as clear
as though we are neighbors still as we had been
In Fifty Eight. ‘Thanks, by the way for ringing.
There’s nothing you can do to help us but
it’s good to know some lines haven’t yet been
cut.’
Out of the palmyrah fences of Jaffna
bristle a hundred guns.
Shopfronts in the Pettah, landmarks of our
childhood
Curl like old photographs in the flames.
Blood on their khaki uniforms, three boys lie
dying;
a crowd looks silently the other way.
Near the wheels of his smashed bicycle

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Big match-1983 English Literature

at the corner of Duplication Road a child lies dead

and two policemen look the other way
as a stout man, sweating with fear, falls to his
knees
beneath a bo-tree in a shower of sticks and stones
flung by his neighbor’s hands.
The joys of childhood, friendships of our youth
ravaged by pieties and politics
screaming across our screens her agony
at last exposed, Sri Lanka burns alive.

Grade 10 & 11
Big match-1983 English Literature
Note on the poem
The poem is an objective perception of the ethnic conflict that erupted in Sri Lanka in
1983. The poem opens with how media report about the outbreak of ethnic violence
in the country. The general civilian life gets disturbed and the tourist arrivals to the
country get cancelled. The ordinary public life turns topsy-turvy. “Flash point in
paradise” and “racial pot boils over” are the headlines which the newspapers carry
around the world. It seems that poet is subtly sarcastic over the sensational wording
of the situation reported by the media. The way the poet relates the incident seems
to have a touch of irony and pun. An arrival of an expatriate boy in search of his lost
roots, lost lovers, lost talents as poet says is timely. Yet he seems to be gripped by
unexpected circumstances of violence and bloodshed. The title itself seems to be a
nuance that seemingly carries an idea of a popular event in Sri Lanka. Probably the
poet uses this in order to highlight the common mentality of the people in Sri Lanka
and how they treat the incident.
The poet reminiscences over how the ethnic violence first sparks off in the Isle. She
traces it back to “forty eight and fifty six”. But it seems her focal point is treacherous
politics played in nineteen fifty eight by making Sinhala the state language. The
politicians riding on popular waves of electoral promises as depicted by the poet have
contributed in fuelling the ethnic sentiments of the masses. It seems that they have
comfortably ignored the opinions of the academia in the country.

Grade 10 & 11
Big match-1983 English Literature

The poet makes very dexterous maneuvering of words in coloring it with popular big
match cricket. This may be to heighten the fact that people enjoy sadism in hurting
others in the same spirit as they welcome big match cricket in Sri Lanka. As the high
spirited young boys take to streets with great enthusiasm which sometimes even the
adults overlook during the big match season, the ethnic violence seems to be on
rampage while the authorities pay a blind eye over what is happening under their nose.
She goes on to say that the violence has reached the unprecedented proportions than
the highest runs scored in a game of cricket at the oval grounds.
The fourth stanza spotlights one isolated incident where an old man living “in a tall
house with old books and pictures” is answering the phone. The words of the old man
are packed with razor sharp sarcasm and insult over what is happening at the time. The
caller seems to be someone who domiciles away from the country. The old man seems
to be gripped by the eventful days filled with fear and trepidation. Though the days are
filled with horror and suspense the old man doesn’t seem to lose his sense of humor. He
says life is full of unexpected twists and turns which drive away the boredom and
monotony. He calls the mobs the “brave lads”. No sooner the curfew is lifted they are
back on the street as if they enjoy every bit of what they are doing. This seems to be the
order of the day and the old man says that he sends away his loved ones to a neighbor’s
home for safe.

Grade 10 & 11
Big match-1983 English Literature

But he seems to be ready to fight back and protect his valuable books which
he thinks are more important than his own life. He washes away his
nervousness and anxiety in liquor which he says is more excessively
consumed than usual. He humbly thanks the caller in an unruffled voice for
his concern over the wellbeing of him and his family.
The sixth stanza starkly illustrates some inhuman and callous circumstances
which had become the commonplace during the period of ethnic violence in
Sri Lanka. The brutal killings of unarmed innocent civilians and the
destruction of valuable property seem to be the order of the day. The
telephone conversation concluded with heart pouring gratitude and he was
surprised over the communication network which was still uninterrupted.
Because when the violence broke out most of the telecommunication lines
were damaged and the civil life literally came to a standstill. Dead bodies
lying on the road and the indifferent attitude of law enforcing authorities
culminated the shameful bloodbath in Sri Lanka.

Grade 10 & 11
Big match-1983 English Literature

The last two lines of the seventh stanza bring out the most horrendous and
gruesome nature of the killing spree which was unleashed on the ethnic minority
in the country. It was brazenly ironic to see a man being beaten to death under a
Bo-tree while pleading for his life. This leaves lot of questions than answers to the
already wounded Sri Lankan public psyche.
The last stanza sums up the whole scenario with a cutting reference to the pieties
and politics which seem to have ravaged the once calm and serene life style of Sri
Lanka.

Grade 10 & 11
Big match-1983 English Literature
The useful vocab……..
Glimpsing - seeing

Scuttle - run hurriedly

Shelter - place giving protection from danger

Strive - make efforts

Objective - not influenced by personal feelings

Trace - find or follow by careful investigations

Sacrificial - an act of giving up something

Ravaged - destroyed

Treacherous - deceitful/ involving betrayal

Abstraction - relating to ideas or qualities

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Big match-1983 English Literature

Absolution - formal forgiveness of person’s sins

Hovel - run down house

Flaring - burning/going up in flame

Dizzier - having a sensation of spinning

Clamouring - giving out a confusing noise

Curfew regulation requiring people to remain indoors

Bristle - react angrily

Flung - past tense of fling (throw)

Agony - great pain

Exposed - revealed

Grade 10 & 11
Big match-1983 English Literature

The poetic techniques in the poem

Metaphor
The title itself is a metaphor. The poet tries to convey the message that the
people derive a sadistic pleasure in being involved in violence. The line “and
Big match fever, flaring high and fast, has both sides in its grip” lays bare how
intense and volatile the situation is. The “match” can also be associated with
fire. The racial hatred seems to be the root cause which could possibly be
represented by a big match stick.
Irony
Irony is also one conspicuous poetic device which surfaces at certain points
in the poem. “Three boys lie dying a crowd looks silently the other way”
magnifies the indifference and the unlikely attitudes of the people.
Imagery
The poet uses very strong images to highlight certain thematic motifs. “a
Bo-tree” in the seventh stanza is a very subtle image to express that even
the religion pays a blind eye and it could even be suggestive that the
religion itself is a contributory factor in dragging the country into this
anarchical conundrum.

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Big match-1983 English Literature

Some text based questions for you to

work on
1.How does the poet draw differences between Sri Lanka and elsewhere in the first
stanza?

2.What poetic device does the poet apply in bringing in some newspaper headlines?

3.How does the poet illustrate the thick-skinned attitude or sheer cold shouldered
nature of politicians towards the academic fraternity in the country?

4.How does the poet say that the consequences have reached unprecedented
proportions?

5.What poetic device does the poet use in telling about the fun and games and
general jollity of the young lads?

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Big match-1983 English Literature

Probable answers

1.Tourists scuttle for cover and cancel their travel options where as an
expatriate boy ponders over his undisturbed life in Toronto.

2.They bare the marks of outright sarcasm.

3.The last two lines of the second stanza are suggestive of this idea. “Yet find no
comfort in our neat solution, no calm abstraction, and no absolution”.

4.She infers this idea in the last line of the third stanza “dizzier scores than any
at the oval." she compares the magnitude of the destruction to the runs
scored in a cricket match played at Oval grounds.

5.Irony. The poet paints a very ironic picture of how young people derive an
sadistic pleasure in this destructive atmosphere.

Grade 10 & 11