How do the children in "Games at Twilight" interact from a social theory perspective?

I would want to answer this question by analysing the way in which power is demonstrated and established in this group of children. If we look at this story, we can see that the children are often showed to jostle for position with each other, and the stronger show their position of dominance by preying on the weaker. Consider, for example, what happens when the children argue over who will be "It" at the beginning of the tale:

The shoves became harder. Some kicked out. The motherly Mira intervened. She pulled the boys roughly apart. There was a tearing sound of cloth, but it was lost in the heavy panting and angry grumbling, and no one paid attention to the small sleeve hanging loosely off a shoulder.

Violence is the natural recourse of these children to settling disputes, and here we see Mira exerting her strength and position of dominance to sort out the group of children. We have another example in Raghu, who deliberately flaunts his strength and power as he searches for the children:

"I know I have to, idiot," Raghu said, superciliously kicking him with his toe. "You're dead," he said with satisfaction, licking the beads of perspiration off his upper lip, and then stalked off in search of worthier prey, whistling spiritedly so that the hiders should hear and tremble.

Raghu's interaction with others is dominated by his greater size and strength and this is something that he deliberately exploits, even going as far as to make his presence known as he looks for the other children so that they could "tremble." We are presented with a world in which the interactions of the children are governed by size, strength and fear.

What literary theory can be used to analyze "Games at Twilight"?

I think using any theory based on psychology would be a good response to this question. There are of course many other possible theories that you could use to analyse this tremendous story, but, from my reading of it, its central message concerns the epiphany of a young boy who discovers a sense of his own meaninglessness and as a result grows up.

Let us remember what happens to Ravi. Hiding himself away in an excellent hiding place, he imagines the glory he will receive when he wins the game. However, when he rushes out, notice how the children and the setting are described:

Out on the lawn, the children stopped chanting. They all turned to stare at him in amazement. Their faces were pale and triangular in teh dusk. The trees and bushes around them stood inky and sepulchral, spilling long shadows across them.

To Ravi, the children appear "dead," just as he has been forgotten by them. In addition, note that the children are now playing a funeral game and singing a song that is about nature's indifference to human death:

The grass is green,

The rose is red;

Remember me

When I am dead, dead, dead, dead...

All of this serves to highlight the epiphany of the final paragraph when Ravi is forced to confront the message of this incident:

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.

Ironically, although he rejects playing the funeral game, he does experience a kind of death: the death of his innocence and his hopes. Therefore, using a theory that focuses on the psychological development of Ravi would be important and productive in analysing this excellent story.

How is the interaction among the children in 'Games at Twilight' from a social theory perspective?

Social theory, otherwise known as Sociological Perspective, systematically examines social behaviors and social groups. Originating during the enlightenment period, this theory examined the self regarding spiritual insight. This also examined how people interacted within a group.

In regards to Anita Desai's story "Games at Twilight", one could examine the treatment of Ravi by his older siblings. The older siblings continuously tell Ravi that he is a baby. This tends to damage his own personal understanding, or lack of understanding, of who he is (enlightenment). Ravi feels inferior and lacks satisfaction with his life. Given his insecurities, one could justify that the story examines his life through a Sociological perspective's lens.

Ravi's escape into the dark garage supports the fact that he does not feel as if he can be a true part of the group (examination of social groups within a society--Ravi's family). Given that, in the end, he removes himself from children's play all together, he admits that he has no place in the social group of his family.

What literary theory best analyzes "Games at Twilight" and the children's interactions?

I would suggest that approaching this story from a psychological standpoint would be most appropriate. Although Anita Desai is an author whose fiction can be analysed from the viewpoint of postcolonialism, at the same time, I think this story lends itself more to a psychological approach, as the epiphany that Ravi experiences at the end of this story makes clear. Consider what Ravi learns about himself:

He had wanted victory and triumph--not a funeral. 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. 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.

Such a description reveals that the prime focus of this short story is Ravi's own psychological awareness of his own lack of significance. Note too the way that, ironically, Ravi refuses to play the funereal game yet he has experienced a kind of death that he becomes aware of--the death of his innocence. His personal concerns, although so important to him, are disregarded by everybody else. This is an important psychological stage that we all have to go through as humans.