Discussion Topic
Analysis and themes of the short story "Games at Twilight"
Summary:
In "Games at Twilight," major themes include childhood innocence, the quest for identity, and the harsh realities of life. The story explores how children navigate complex emotions and social hierarchies while playing games. The protagonist, Ravi, experiences a poignant moment of self-realization and insignificance, highlighting the often overlooked emotional depth and struggles of childhood.
What is the theme of the short story "Games at Twilight"?
One of the main themes throughout the short story "Games at Twilight" concerns alienation and isolation. Throughout the story, Ravi is bullied and forgotten during a game of hide-and-seek. An older boy named Raghu intimidates Ravi by pounding on the shed where he is hiding during the game. Ravi's hiding spot is in a rundown shed attached to a garage where old household items are stored. Ravi avoids detection and waits until the sun has gone down before he remembers that in order to win the game he has to touch the veranda. After Ravi runs out and touches the veranda, declaring that he has won, the other children look at him awkwardly, and Ravi realizes that he has been forgotten. Ravi's sense of alienation becomes apparent as he refuses to participate in their new game. Anita Desai writes,
"He had wanted victory and triumph—not a funeral....
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But he had been forgotten, left out, and he would not join them now. The ignominy of being forgotten—how could he face it? He felt his heart go heavy and ache inside him unbearably" (3).
Desai examines Ravi's feelings of inferiority and alienation throughout the story. While he is in hiding, Ravi daydreams about being recognized as the winner of the game. Unfortunately, when Ravi confronts reality he finds out that he has been sadly forgotten. The feeling of being overlooked and neglected traumatizes the young boy. Ravi becomes so depressed that he lays facedown on the ground and contemplates his insignificant existence.
I'm not entirely sure what you mean by theme statement. I think that you might be asking for a theme that is stated or present within the story. One theme that I think is clearly illustrated by "Games at Twilight" is the theme of alienation. Ravi is bound and determined to be a part of the group. He doesn't only want to be a part of the group though, he desperately wants to be accepted as a "cool" kid within the group. In order to do that, Ravi believes that winning the hide and seek game is tantamount to his success.
To defeat Raghu—that hirsute, hoarse-voiced football champion—and to be the winner in a circle of older, bigger, luckier children—that would be thrilling beyond imagination.
Unfortunately, his victory doesn't get Ravi any more credibility than he had before. He was so alienated at the beginning of the story that all of the other kids forgot that he was even playing. Then at the end of the story, he is still alienated, because none of the other children are willing to accept his supposed victory.
"Don’t be a fool,'' Raghu said roughly, pushing him aside, and even Mira said, "Stop howling, Ravi. If you want to play, you can stand at the end of the line,'' and she put him there very firmly.
Clearly the central theme of this story is the way in which we all go through a stage where, like Ravi, we realise our own insignificance and thus undergo a kind of death in terms of our innocence and our hopes which ends our childhood. This is of course highlighted by the funereal game that the other children are playing at the end of the story and in which Ravi refuses to participate. Note how the story ends as Ravi struggles and grapples with what he has learnt from being ignored:
The ignominy of being forgotten--how could he fact it? He felt his heart go heavy and ache inside him unbearably. He lay down full length on the damp grass, crushing his face into it, no longer crying, silenced by a terrible sense of his insignificance.
This is the true theme of this short story as it focuses on growing up and key moments that form a part of that process and teach us of our own "insignificance." The title is related to this theme through the association of the word "twilight," which we think of as being the death of the day. Likewise, "games" is a word that brings to mind competition and struggle and the need to learn the "rules" of life in order to live it successfully.
Analyze the story "Games at Twilight".
This short story is all about growing up and learning about one's true insignificance in the grand scheme of things. The story explores the way in which children play games that teach them important life lessons about life. Ravi, through finding an excellent hiding place, technically wins the game of hide and seek, but little does he realise that he has hidden himself so well that the other children have moved on to a different game and forgotten him. Note how he thinks of the praise and honour he will win whilst hiding:
What fun if they were all found and caught--he alone left unconquered! He had never known that sensation.. He hugged his knees close together and smiled to himself almost shyly at the thought of so much victory, such laurels.
Of course, the reality is very different, and Ravi comes out of his hiding place only to find the children playing a game about death and dying. It is clear that this is no coincidence, as Ravi himself must die a kind of death to do with his innocence and youth. He realises the "terrible sense of his own insignificance" and this represents the death of his childhood and the beginning of his adulthood where he realises he is not the centre of the universe. This story then is all about growing up and the necessary steps that one has to go through in order to leave childhood behind and become an adult.