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Anita Desai vividly explores the theme of family relationships in her short story “Games at Twilight” by showing the conflict between the older siblings and Ravi. “They too began tumbling, shoving, pushing against each other, frantic to start.” This quote presents the violence between the siblings and the older ones oppress the smaller ones. The diction “frantic” has connotations of craziness and anxiety, which implies that there is a lot of tension between the children. The diction “tumbling” and “shoving” both connote violence, which could imply that the relationship between the children is rough and are very competitive. On the other hand, his mother is portrayed as a benign person. Although she is very annoyed by the noise made by the children, she still asks “Have you hurt yourself?” which shows she still cares for her child.

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Desai vividly portrays alienation and isolation in the story of ‘Games at Twilight’. At the beginning of the story, the children are kept in isolation by their mother: “their mother would not open the door, everything was still curtained and shuttered”. The word ‘door’ has the connotation of a gateway to freedom, meaning the children were prevented to get in touch with the outside world. The verbs ‘curtained’ and ‘shuttered’ refer to separation, highlighting the oppression of the atmosphere and the suffering of being isolated. After Ravi returned his sibling “started, wondering at his reappearance…his wild animal howling” the metaphor of him being referred to as an animal implies that he’s out of place and he’s different from everyone else as they are described as civilized humans. Further implicating his alienation.

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Games at Twilight - social pressure (theme) 

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Games at Twilight - social pressure (theme) 

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Desai vividly explores the theme of social pressure among children as one of the themes of her short story "Games at Twilight". Ravi feels peer pressure against bigger kids as they are constantly comparing themselves to each other. "Ravi had wished he were tall enough, big enough to reach the key on the nail' this suggests that size matters a lot for the children at their age. The diction 'wished' implies that Ravi is desperate to grow bigger and to grow stronger, he envies them and wants to be like one of them. Also, the repetition of the diction "enough" emphasises Ravi is keep longing for sufficient height to reach the peak of the social hierachy in his family.

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Ravi realizes the world doesn't revolve around him and reality is not always what he hopes for. "Crushing his face into it, no longer crying, silenced by a terrible sense of his insignificance". The phrase "no longer crying"  makes it clear he has accepted reality and becoming aware of himself and "his insignificance". When he accepts his "insignificance" he accepts that he is nothing more than any other human, that he is not more or less important than other people making him further understanding that he is who he is.

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Games at Twilight - social pressure (theme) 

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Games at Twilight - social pressure (theme) 

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Games at Twilight - social pressure (theme)

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Games at Twilight - social pressure (theme)

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How is the
setting vividly established at the start of the story?                                                                                  In
‘Games at Twilight’, Anita Desai vividly establishes the setting as in India,
exotic, and unbearably hot. The opening line establishes this ‘It was still too
hot to play outdoors.’ From this we can infer that the story is taking place
during the summer months. Desai further explores how the heat oppressively affects
the children, ‘they burst out like seeds from a crackling, over-ripe pod into the
veranda’. This simile suggests that the children have been inside all day as a
result of the sun’s ferociousness. The diction ‘burst out’ that the children were
excited to get out, ‘over-ripe’ due to being inside all day. The affect of the
weather on the environment is also very strong, ‘parrots suddenly fell out of
the eucalyptus tree’ this emphasize how the weather impacts the environment,
the tree ‘eucalyptus’ indicates that the setting is tropical. 

 

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How is the
setting vividly established at the start of the story?                                                                                  In
‘Games at Twilight’, Anita Desai vividly establishes the setting as in India,
exotic, and unbearably hot. The opening line establishes this ‘It was still too
hot to play outdoors.’ From this we can infer that the story is taking place
during the summer months. Desai further explores how the heat oppressively affects
the children, ‘they burst out like seeds from a crackling, over-ripe pod into the
veranda’. This simile suggests that the children have been inside all day as a
result of the sun’s ferociousness. The diction ‘burst out’ that the children were
excited to get out, ‘over-ripe’ due to being inside all day. The affect of the
weather on the environment is also very strong, ‘parrots suddenly fell out of
the eucalyptus tree’ this emphasize how the weather impacts the environment,
the tree ‘eucalyptus’ indicates that the setting is tropical. 

 

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How is symbolism used to describe the shed? (pg.306~307)

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How is symbolism used to describe the shed? (pg.306~307)

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In ‘Games of twilight’ written by Anita Desai, symbolism is used to describe the shed. The symbolism of abandonment of the shed emphasizes the insignificants of both Ravi and the Shed. The shed is described as a “Depressing mortuary of defunct household goods”. The diction ‘Mortuary has the connotations of death, isolation and silence.  This metaphor creates a negative imagery of the shed and the adjective ‘Depressing’ supports this point even more as the morgue creates an aroma of depress and sadness.  Furthermore, the diction ‘defunct’ gives a connotation of abandonment from the lost of function from an object. This could also be connected to Ravi, which is also as useless and forgotten as the items left in the shed.  Alternatively, “mortuary” could also give a connotation of a temporary shelter for the body of the dead to rest and be protected. We can interpret that the ‘defunct’ goods are being temporarily protected from being sold and weathered by the outside world, which could further connect to Ravi, being protected by the shed from being caught. Desai symbolize these connotations and attempts to make us –the readers- to feel sympathy towards our young protagonist, Ravi.

-Sean & Cecelia

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How does the ending represent a complete reversal for Ravi and his hopes? What lesson has he learned about life? p.309

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How does the ending represent a complete reversal for Ravi and his hopes? What lesson has he learned about life? p.309

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What motivates Ravi to refuse to join the children in their evening games?

*  Ravi refuses to join the children because he wants them to admit that he won the game. “Pounded across the lawn into their mist…’ I won, I won, I won  ‘ he bawled” The verb” bawled’ depicts his unsatisfactory towards the end of the game.  Ravi repeats the phrase “I won” to convince the others to recognise his victory and be noticed.

What motivates the children to play other games while Ravi is still hiding?

* Whereas , the children did not seek for Ravi as they cherish their play time  . “ then they had played another and another “ From the phrases “ another and another” , it shows how careless they are to whether who is the winner , but just concentrated in playing .

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The dark images of death contrast with the apparent innocence of the children's games.
-The heat is described as deadly. The birds are likened to "dead fruit" and the dog's "paws and ears and tail" are likened to "dying travellers in search of water". The dog's limbs seem slow, sluggish and desperate as the connotations of "dying travellers" are despair. The comparison to death helps to create the atmosphere as it adds to the oppressive nature of the heat. This is because humans fear death and often feel as though it traps them.
-The shed is also compared to a "grave" and a "dark and depressing mortuary". This emphasises Ravi's fear and horror at being confined to the shed. Graves have connotations of decay and revulsion, and people  strongly dislike the idea of them. This shows the reader Ravi's disgust at the shed, thus making them sympathise with him.
-As Ravi returns to the garden with the other children, he is upset because "he wanted victory and triumph - not a funeral". Funerals have connotations of mourning, loss and endings, and therefore it shows that he has lost hope and that he is upset that he was forgotten.

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How do Ravi's thoughts gradually change as time passes?

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How do Ravi's thoughts gradually change as time passes?

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Ravi’s thoughts gradually change throughout the story. An example of this is when Ravi first faces the dark shed, he braves the fear in order to show his bravery and increase his chance of winning the game: "Ravi had never cared to enter such a dark and depressing mortuary of defunct household goods." Although Ravi is anxious to enter the shed, his desire to win the game had overwhelmed his fear and he enters somewhere he perceives as a ‘depressing mortuary’ a place with connotations of death. After Ravi successfully eluded Raghu (the seeker), he "shook, then shivered with delight, with self-congratulation." Ravi envision the moment that he wins the game and earns the glory, thus he decides to wait patiently against his agitation. The emotional state varies from fright to happiness, which encouraged Ravi to stay in there until the game is over.

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This theme is symbolically reflected in the title, as the word “twilight” suggests an interplay of light and shadow, blurring the distinction between reality and fantasy.

As soon as twilight starts there is a change of mood from hopeful: 'What fun if they were all found and caught - he alone left unconquered!', the phrasing sounds like a thought, a wish, and the use of the exclamation mark expresses his excitement. However after the sun starts to set there is a clear change in his mood, and the mood of the story. When he finally leaves the shed he does it 'With a whimper'. The diction 'whimper' connotes fear, pain or unhappiness, adding to a much gloomier mood at twilight. Other negative words Anita Desai chooses to use to add to the gloomy atmosphere are: 'ignominy' which connotes shame and dishonour, 'insignificance' which connotes how meaningless he feels, not worth consideration.

'Twilight' could be symbolic for losing hope as light is often related to hope and happiness and twilight is when the sun starts to set and it gets darker, the sky only faintly lit.

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-During the first stages of the story mentioning Ravi, he is shown as the typical schoolboy with a few bad habits and the stereotypical dirtiness of a schoolboy at that time period.
-During the first stages f the game he is shown to be hopeless in the game against the, "hirsute, hoarse-voice football-champion", Raghu. But when he realises he is safe he begins to think more positive thoughts on the glory and honour of winning this game.
-Soon he realises that he had been hiding for too long and that it was quite odd for all the children to be playing together in chants and song Instead of running around and hiding.

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What is the importance of the title to the story? Locate all the references to twilight in the story. What is the significance of the time of day? Is twilight symbollic for something within the story?

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What is the importance of the title to the story? Locate all the references to twilight in the story. What is the significance of the time of day? Is twilight symbollic for something within the story?

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The title represents the changing of Ravi's feelings as the time of day changes.  "Smiled to himself almost shyly" indicates that at first when it is still day; connoting sensations of success, happiness and glory. As time passes in the story "It grew darker in the shed... Evening. Twilight." Ravi also becomes more and more insecure because his siblings have forgotten about him, making him feel dark and insignificant inside, as if no one can see him, or remember him, which happens in the dark.

"Twilight" also connotes the emerging of darkness, the start of something bad. "Games at Twilight" might represent that the games are serious, and not just for fun.

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There are many references to
death throughout the story – why? Identify, label and comment on the
following examples:

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There are many references to
death throughout the story – why? Identify, label and comment on the
following examples: