Beyond A Boundary, By C. L. R James

Games are like a system of rules that create a sub world within communities, and give those who participate in the game a sense of control. At face value, a game can be seen as just that, a game. A form of play that can be competitively conducted according to rules and decided by skill, strength, or just pure luck. With further analyzation, we can see throughout history and literature that games have strong interconnections to other aspects of life for those who participate in one way or another. Games have been played since the beginning of mankind, and through games there lies a history and the future of a community. Any game, like literature and the arts, by C.L.R James’ theory, have potential to enable and define the character of the collective and national consciousness by embodying, or endowing it with, “ the whole past history and future hopes…”(James 232). This paper will analyze the strong relations between politics, social constructions, a community’s or individual's direction, and how they can all be connected in multiple settings and throughout time.
A film that also shares the same theme as Beyond a Boundary is the film, “Lagaan.” Lagaan’s overall theme also revolves around the game of cricket. In the film, a small village set in the Victorian period of British rule and colonization, and they are burdened with a drought and high taxes to pay. The villagers find themselves with an opportunity to relieve themselves of this tax if they play the unfamiliar game of cricket against British