Question

I don't think Ravi felt isolated. I think he was bored, and he didn't think the game was very interesting. Like he wanted to hide so that he didn't have to play, and he could just chill and wait it out. Do you agree or disagree with this point of view? Find evidence from the story to support or refute the student's claim. In your response, clarify why you agree or disagree with the student's thoughts.

Answer 1

Answer and Explanation:

Do you agree or disagree with this point of view?

I disagree with this point of view.

Find evidence from the story to support or refute the student's claim. In your response, clarify why you agree or disagree with the student's thoughts.

Ravi is a character in the short story "Games at Twilight", by Anita Desai. He and his siblings are playing hide-and-seek when he decides to hide in the shed where old furniture and broken things are kept. Ravi is excited about the idea of winning the game. He is motivated by picturing himself as a champion who got to win over older, smarter kids. After hiding for hours, he comes out and runs to the "den" to become the desperate winner of a game that had been long over. His siblings had forgotten about him.

Upon this awful realization, Ravi feels completely isolated. He is obviously a young child who is still insecure about his place in the world. That's why he is so desperate to win - to prove something to himself and others. But the fact that he was forgotten is utterly disappointing and hurtful. He does not feel included; he does not want to be included anymore:

And the arc of thin arms trembled in the twilight, and the heads were bowed so sadly, and their feet tramped to that melancholy refrain so mournfully, so helplessly, that Ravi could not bear it. He would not follow them, he would not be included in this funereal game. 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.