Open Access
American Research Journal of English and Literature
ISSN (Online): 2378-9026
DOI: 10.46568/arjel
Servile Mourning for the Powerful: A Critical Reading of “Professional Mourners” by Alagu Subramaniam
Abstract
This is a literary study of the short story “Professional Mourners” by Alagu Subramaniam (1964). The introduction focuses
on the sociological aspect of the practice of hiring professional mourners at funerals in certain parts of Sri Lanka. It is
conducted in six sections, in accordance with the trajectory the story follows: 1) Exciting Element in Death; 2) Uncle’s
Self-Importance as Master of Ceremonies; 3) Uncle’s Hunt for Mourners; 4) Service in Full Swing; 5) Mission Impossible;
and 6) A Cacophony to Mock the Perpetrator. As the narrator is a child, all these sections attempt to establish a child’s
perspective of the entire procedure the so-called “Master of Ceremonies” follows in fulfilling the requirement of hiring
some mourners at the funeral of his grandmother. So, section 1) captures how a group of adults and children responds
to death in the family; section 2) demonstrates how the schoolmaster turns the occasion into an opportunity for slave
driving in his assumed capacity as Master of Ceremonies; section 3) narrates how oppressively the schoolmaster treats
the professional mourners; section 4) depicts how the professional mourners engage in their duty; section 5) satirises the
schoolmaster’s disappointment in front of dissidents of his violation of the professional mourners’ obligation to mourn
their mother; section 6) ironically presents the negative impact the mourners’ howling has on the schoolmaster. Thus, the
study treats the story as a series of incidents exposing a harmful aspect of class consciousness that promotes slavery to
the extent of depriving the victims of their right to satisfy their personal priorities.
