2nd year GAMES AT TWILIGHT, by Anita Desai

Hi, there!
We´ll plunge into this first story in no time, but let´s find out a bit about Anita Desai first...

Look for her biography, understanding about the writer can help us understand her product, her work...Also watch the following interview

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MQ29zbShX4

(or google "Anita Desai Interview" (it´s a two minutes´ interview)

As you see, she was born in 1937 in India to a German mother and a Bengali father, and is one of the major second-generation Indian-English novelists. She has written about ten novels and a collection of short stories and essays, articles and interviews.She has been writing for forty years and has earned a respectable position in post colonial literature. She has been recognised by various indigenous and international organizations and short listed for the Booker prize three times. Iniatially, she wrote about women, especially middle class Indian women and later developed new themes, such as the claustrophobic experience of city life, demise of traditions, Indo-Pakistan, Indo-Anglican and European culture, the stereotypical Western view of India, migration and Diaspora and more generally home, family, and constraints in relationships.

It is clear then, that we shall be reading a writer that is alien to our culture, this might entail some more work on our part, but eventually we shall have opened a window to a new outlook of life, and that is always enriching...maybe a bit challenging?


So, it is clear that finding out about India and its culture will be VERY convenient to enjoy these stories...ok? How much do we know about India? See what you can find about the land, the languages and culture, the social structure(caste system), religion (Hinduism worshipping three deities: Brhama, Vishnu and Shiva- and Shakti), Marriage and the dowry system. Little by little, learning about the above mentioned issues we´ll come to appreciate what we call Indianness...


We shall start by analysing Games at Twilight

There is an inner voyage in this story, starting at the point of lack of self knowledge and getting to a point of knowledge...from unawareness to awareness.

We mentioned the four stages
Entrapment
The rite of passage, or threshold (hide-and-seek)
The twilight (revelation?)
Winning the game or "winning" the "game"?

We shall be discussing each of the steps in more detail in class. It´ll help if you can print the following questionaire and answer it in class next Tuesday 15 (and Thursday for 2nd D)

QUESTIONNAIRE
Games at Twilight
1. How much empathy for Ravi did you feel at the end of the story? Did his experience remind you of any of your childhood experiences?

2. What specific words and images in this story are most vivid to you? If you had to draw one picture to illustrate the story, what would you draw? Do so, to show me next week.

3. Which images suggest loss and death to you? How do these images make you feel?

4. Why is everyone so surprised to see Ravi when he finally comes out of his hiding place?
Discuss how he is "welcomed" as he reappears. Work on how long he has been missing and how this shows in the text. Focus on all the things the children did as he was "missing". Copy a list.

5. What kind of game are the children playing at twilight?
6. What has Ravi discovered by the end of the story? Find a passage of the text that supports your answer. Think of the issue of being "forgotten", "insignifican".
7. How would you state the theme of this story—what revelation about human life does it make to you? As you think about the theme, think also about how the story’s title reinforces its theme. (Think of the layers of meanings you can give to the word games.)
8. How do Ravi’s experiences in the shed contribute to the mood of the story?
9. Are the children in this story (and childhood itself) more realistically portrayed than the children in television situation comedies, or less so? Give examples to support your view.

Reflect on the following:
CENTRAL THEMES
The "uncanniness" of childhood (not necessarily a "happy" and "naive" time)
Coming of Age: the rite of passage (an initiation into adult life)
The innermost conflict within "coming of age"
Sibling antagonism and rivalry
Anguish about death/life
Death as a unifying force
Human insignificance

TITLE
Work on the symbolism of "the twilight" ( "the uncanny", "the moment of revelation", "the search for identity")


I´ll check the answers to the questions and we´ll discuss the themes and title on Tuesday 22 (and 24 for 2nd D) Enjoy it!!