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Abstract
Punyakante Wijenaike's The Waiting Earth (1966) depicts the Sri Lankan state's focus on development and the social upheaval caused by resettlement in the 1960s. This essay examines melodrama and other literary strategies including free indirect discourse to demonstrate Wijenaike's uncertainty about the extent of the agricultural development and poverty alleviation that can be achieved. This essay argues that in The Waiting Earth and the short story sequel “Living on the Edge,” Wijenaike protests against the shortcomings of development discourse and practice, such that the texts can be regarded as literary and political interventions against government-enforced resettlement.