In a review of Anita Desai’s short story collection Diamond Dust and Other Stories novel Fasting, Feasting , Edward Hower comments, ‘‘In Anita Desai’s fiction, home is both a prison and a refuge. Those who escape face isolation from their families and society, but those who stay risk suffocation. Family tensions make her characters’ attempts…
Tag: Anita Desai
A Devoted Son – Setting
Population Trends After India was granted its independence from Great Britain in 1947, the country became a republic in 1948. While India became a democracy at that time, certain aspects of society remained relatively unchanged underwent limited changes by the late 1970s. For example, a majority of the population lived in rural communities. Most rural…
A Devoted Son – Literary Devices
Climax The climax is the point in the action of a story when the conflict reaches its peak. In ‘‘A Devoted Son,’’ the conflict between Varma and Rakesh builds through Varma’s illness as he desires to eat what he wants and to be allowed to die but is kept alive by his son and his…
A Devoted Son – Themes
Respect and Devotion One of the primary concepts explored in ‘‘A Devoted Son’’ is the often complicated nature traditional Indian family relationships. Varma works for forty years, and he and his wife make sacrifices to ensure their son Rakesh can receive the education they did not. Rakesh rewards them by excelling at school, becoming a…
A Devoted Son – Characters
Bhatia Bhatia is Varma’s next door neighbor. Although he is old, Bhatia is still somewhat mobile, unlike most of Varma’s other neighbors. Bhatia visits Varma and is sympathetic to his complaints about how Rakesh treats him. Bhatia is horrified that Rakesh refuses his father food, saying it is disrespectful. Rakesh Rakesh is the dutiful son…
Games At Twilight – Analysis – Essay
Most criticism of Anita Desai stresses the influence of Western writers such as Virginia Woolf, Albert Camus, or D. H. Lawrence on her work. Desai makes use of her rich Indian tradition in her stories, however, not only as locale or social background, but in terms of ideas from Indian philosophical classics such as the…
Games At Twilight – Setting
Colonial India The British East India Company was given permission by a Mughal emperor (Islamic Persian ruler) in 1617 to trade in India. In protecting its trading interests, Britain used more and more military force until it took over large areas of India and its administration, with the cooperation of local rulers. In 1857, after…
Games At Twilight – Literary Devices
Short Story The modern short story gained popularity in the nineteenth century with the stories of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe, Nikolai Gogol, and Guy de Maupassant. They gave the short narrative its modern form as a compressed story with a unified plot striving for a single effect. Though the modern short story generally concerns…
Games At Twilight – Themes
Identity Anita Desai’s fiction deals with individuals searching for their identity. This theme has been popular in Western fiction for at least two centuries, but it is a new theme in Indian literature since India was until recently a closed society. Traditionally, the family and social caste system dictated individual choices in everything from education…
Games At Twilight – Characters
Anu Anu is the name of one of the children. It can be either a male or female name, and this child is not individualized in the story. Chauffeur or Driver The hairy-chested driver is a servant in the family and is in charge of the car and the garage. He lets the children help…