The title of Saki's short story "Dusk" can be looked at as appropriate to the movement and setting of the story. Given that the story takes place at six o'clock on a March night, light is fleeting. The setting is only illuminated by a few lamp lights and a partial moon.

The third-person narrator gives some insight into the mind of the protagonist, Norman Gortsby, when it is stated how he feels about the dusk.

Dusk, to his mind, was the hour of the defeated.

There are two main reasons as to why the title of the story is appropriate. First, and most obviously, is the setting of the text. The story takes place during a time of day where it is not quite dark and not quite light either. Therefore, the streets are shadowed by the things around Norman and causes him to question the types of people who emerge at this time of the night.

This leads into the second reason the title of the story is appropriate. The people who Norman come across are described as the ones who are defeated and

who had fought and lost, who hid their fallen fortunes and dead hopes as far as possible from the scrutiny of the curious, came forth in this hour of gloaming, when their shabby clothes and bowed shoulders and unhappy eyes might pass unnoticed, or, at any rate, unrecognised.

Therefore, the people who come out at night are described as people who may have shadows in their lives. The people, therefore, only come out at dusk so that they can hide from the light.