Games at Twilight by Anita Desai
Info and Resources created by Matthew ThorntonAbout the authorAnita Desai is an Indian novelist and short story writer who writes about a large variety of themes. These include: tensions between family members, alienation of middle-class women, demise of traditions and Western stereotypical views of India.
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In a nutshell:
Ravi is one of the younger members in the family and doesn't feel valued. He feels as if he is misunderstood, underestimated, neglected and insignificant. He treats the game of 'hide and seek' as a way in which he can prove his worth. However, even after the things don't change. This causes an emotional breakdown from Ravi which is misinterpreted as a childish tantrum. 'Games at Twilight' explores the struggles a younger person in a large family faces, as they seek to be seen in the same light as their older siblings.
Mrs Wilding says:
Much like Lim's Journey, this story captures the moment where a child moves from the imaginative excitement of childhood (where there is nothing more disturbing than insects and imagined fear in darkness) to the understanding that life is pointless and ends only with despair, death and being forgotten. Another uplifting choice from Cambridge...
PRIORITY: HIGH
POSSIBLE ESSAY PAIRINGS WITH:
Ravi is one of the younger members in the family and doesn't feel valued. He feels as if he is misunderstood, underestimated, neglected and insignificant. He treats the game of 'hide and seek' as a way in which he can prove his worth. However, even after the things don't change. This causes an emotional breakdown from Ravi which is misinterpreted as a childish tantrum. 'Games at Twilight' explores the struggles a younger person in a large family faces, as they seek to be seen in the same light as their older siblings.
Mrs Wilding says:
Much like Lim's Journey, this story captures the moment where a child moves from the imaginative excitement of childhood (where there is nothing more disturbing than insects and imagined fear in darkness) to the understanding that life is pointless and ends only with despair, death and being forgotten. Another uplifting choice from Cambridge...
PRIORITY: HIGH
POSSIBLE ESSAY PAIRINGS WITH:
- Yellow Wallpaper (change, isolation, unbreakable cycle, conflict);
- Lim's Journey (childhood, innocence lost, change, isolation, gender, age/youth);
- Five Twenty (age/youth, oppression, colours and objects as symbols - esp flowers, isolation, change)
- Secrets (memory, age/youth, relationships, epiphinany and change, isolation)
- The Lemon Orchard (oppression, isolation, natural imagery and objects as symbolic elements, darkness and light, colonialism)
- An Englishman's Home (change, settings as symbols, outsiders)
Deeper analysis:
Ways of Seeing
Post-Colonialism
It's a possible long shot but Desai could be making parallels between Ravi's experience and the experience of the Indian people after the British withdrew from India.
Post-Colonialism v1
Raghu is a metaphor for the British: he is a bully who misuses his physical might and intimidation, controlling the other children, who are clearly subservient to his authority. However, Like Britain, he is a distant power, who soon grows bored with overseeing all of the children, reflected in the way he quickly moves on from Ravi's hiding place. Ravi then represents the Indian people (or possibly the future of the Indian people). After Raghu's withdrawal, he is left alone, to his own devices. Eventually, his lack of any structured support is reinforced by the fact that he is left to ponder a future without hope, which offers only death; he is ultimately isolated and forgotten with no intervention, reflecting the chaos and death that ensued when the British left India.
Post Colonialism v2
Similar to the first option but it could be argued that the adults represent the British Empire - distant but all powerful figures who do not really interact with the children/Indian people, other than briefly trying to divert their attention from the frustrations of their existence. Raghu therefore represents the threat of mob rule - how the dominant in society will rule and intimidate through physical might and the fear of violence, reflecting the chaos and violence that occurred after the British withdrew so quickly, taking no responsibility for what happened. Ravi tries to hide initially from this threat, then re-emerges to join with the other children in celebration, representing the unification of the Indian people. However, society has become cruel and uncaring; the future offers only death and isolation - there is no support or empathy from the community.
Gender identity/Feminist perspective
Raghu is far more stereotypically male in terms of his physicality and his movements. He misuses his physical strength and places himself at the top of the social hierarchy. This reflects male social superiority and arrogance. Ravi is overlooked by a society which does not recognise originality or sensitivity in males: he is expected to conform and is excluded from the group/society when he displays what is interpreted as emotional weakness.
Rough thematic areas: isolation, transition/change, growing up, loss of innocence, powerlessness, age and youth, death, male identity.
Enquiry
1. Collate quotes that describe Raghu, Ravi and Manu. What is shown though these descriptions? 2. Why do you think the game matters so much to Ravi? 3. Research the significance of the colours yellow and white in Indian culture. How does this relate to the story? 4. Explain the significance of the "upturned flower pot". 5. Collate quotes which present Ravi's neglecting by the family. 6. How and why is Ravi's emotional breakdown misinterpreted? 7. Which evidence presents that Ravi is maybe underestimated? Or which evidence shows how being one of the youngest limits Ravi's prosperity? 8. How are men and women/boys and girls presented in the text? What is the impact of this. 9. What does the Bougainvillea represent? 10. What is the barren, lifeless setting intended to convey? (Hint: refer to information about the author). |
Mrs Wilding's other Key areas to investigate:
a) Collate lists of semantic fields of i) childhood and ii) death b) Explore the text for liminal spaces and states (transition places/events). What do they signify? c) Create a list of binary opposition between Raghu (who is becoming a man) and Ravi (who for the most part encapsulates the innocence of childhood). What can Desai be telling us about i) life/growing up or ii) masculine identity? d) Divergent thinking: Explore the title 'Games at Twilight' for multiple interpretations. What are the games? What can twilight symbolise? How does Desai convey ideas through the title? Overall, what is the 'twilight' we all face? e) Look at the opening of the story -- how does Desai build an atmosphere of heat, light and stillness? Given your deeper understanding, how can this be symbolic? f) Look at how she breaks the initial atmosphere and juxtaposes the actions and physicality of the children. How can this be seen as important? g) Look at the way Desai gives light tactile qualities (bottom of p307). What does this vivid description convey about the way we experience childhood? h) p306 the key: this is beyond his reach for years to come. What ultimately, is his freedom denied by? How is this a tremendously symbolic moment? i) after his experience in the garage, Raghu imagines his moment of victory on p307. How does Desai build this moment into a reflection of childhood joy in simple pleasures? j) How does she destroy this moment? What is the effect of this on the reader and what is Desai telling us through his disappointment, isolation and bleak epiphany? |