Games at Twilight

“‘No—we won’t, we won’t,’ they wailed so horrendously that she actually let down the bolt of the front door so that they burst out like seeds from a crackling, overripe pod into the veranda, with such wild, maniacal yells that she retreated to her bath and the shower of talcum powder and the fresh sari that were to help her face the summer evening.”

This quote introduces several different ideas that are further developed throughout the text. The mother, although a minor character, is essentially shown as a caretaker of several children; her primary role is within the home. Additionally, there is an emphasis on the struggle that parents face in deciding when to shelter their children from the world and when to allow them their freedom. Finally, the extreme heat—which is an important part of the setting—is mentioned as something that the mother must retreat to the bath in order to prepare for.

“The children, too, felt released. They too began tumbling, shoving, pushing against each other, frantic to start. Start what? Start their business. The business of the children’s day which is—play.”

The characters within this story have clearly defined roles, and the children’s role is to play. Despite the extreme, oppressive heat of the day, they are eager to play hide-and-seek and take the whole process very seriously. They do not let the brightness and high temperature distract nor deter their game.

“The shoves became harder. Some kicked out. The motherly Mira intervened. She pulled the boys roughly apart.”

For the children, play is a means of learning and performing the social expectations that apply to their gender. In the absence of her mother, Mira takes charge of the boys. Similarly, Raghu enacts a form of aggressive dominance that is coded as masculine and that his younger brother