Game Of Polo Flashcards
East vs west
The title - juxtaposition of the western game of polo with the ridiculous barbaric image of a headless goat - polo is usually a spry with colonial connection and it is still considered an upper class sport. The image of the headless goat is both absurd and primitive with goat associated with a simpler and less sophisticated way of life in the east. Levine also uses western cultural references such as wacky races and formula one without rules to give the readers some reference posts with which to compare her experience. Perhaps this could be seen as quite judgemental and maybe she is mocking the way people in Pakistan go about life pr perhaps she is genuinely intrigued by the differences between the Easter life vs the western lifestyle.
Cultural differences
Cultural differences are highlighted at the end of the passage when yaqoob reveals that he is underage and doesn’t have a license which he and Iqbal find quite hilarious whereas Levine states ‘glad he hadn’t told me before’ suggesting that she views this as a breach of the rules and the law. The whole race and how it is conducted is an example of something that simply would not happen in Britain. Furthermore, the tension at the end of the race caused by the arguments over the winner mean that Levine two young drivers decided to remove her from the situation: they were ‘nervous of hanging around a volatile situation’ and ordered her to stay in the car. This suggests that the situation might turn quickly into something more hostile, emphasizing the lack of rules or laws governing the event.
Technique and language
Media res - passage beings in the middle of the action, referring to people as lads without context - makes it exciting
Juxtaposition - while Levine finds the donkey race quite chaotic and possibly dangerous, the locals find it completely normal - this may be a warning not to impose western ideals and expectation into different cultures.
Tone - judgemental as author compares what she considers to be normal to the sense of lawlessness she finds in this event. This implies that this culture is perceived to be uncivilized in comparison
