Fluke – Romesh Gunesekera
Theme - trust, privacy, conflict, independence and prosperity.
the soldiers taking marketing classes in "Fluke”
The fact that Vasabtha discovers that he is learning very little form Mr
Weerakoon. This may be important as Gunesekera may be suggesting that Mr
Weerakoon is in reality attempting to sell others something that they do not
necessarily need.
sense of naivety when it comes to Mr Weerakoon’s actions. Like - Losing his
phone
Vasabtha -
The only real independent person who is non reliant on marketing advice at the
conference is Vasabtha. He may be a small entrepreneur but he does sufficiently
well to survive.
The end of the story is also interesting as Vasabtha feels confident that he
can offer Mr W advice on marketing. This may be important as the reader is
already aware that Vasabtha has gone through Mr Weerakoon’s phone and
may feel like suggesting to him that a secure pin number on his phone may
be appropriate.
However this may be a foolish thing for Vasabtha to do as it would result in
Mr Weerakoon being aware that Vasabtha has gone through his phone and
as such can’t be trusted. It is as though Vasabtha is oozing in confidence
and as such wants to relay some of his wisdom to Mr Weerakoon.
However by doing so Vasabtha is only affecting his own business and may
not be marketing himself in the proper manner. If anything it is better for
Vasabtha to keep what he has learnt to himself and use it to his own
advantage. In that way he is not burning the bridge that exists between Mr
Weerakoon and himself. A bridge that Vasabtha can easily build on if he is
careful with his words.
It would also appear that Gunesekera is suggesting that out of conflict comes peace.
There is very little if any military presence in the story. Which may suggest that
times have and are calmer for Sri Lanka.
During the civil war there would have been very little need or necessity for
marketing conferences and there would have been very few if any visitors from
outside Sri Lanka (Chinese women).
It is for this reason that Mr Weerakoon can view the marketing conference to be a
success. Some seats might be empty but he has an attentive audience.