As was mentioned in the previous post, the short story "Games at Twilight" is narrated in the third-person point of view. One can easily distinguish the difference between first- and third-person narration by examining the pronouns used throughout the story. First-person narration pronouns include I, me, my, us, and ours. In contrast, third-person narration pronouns include he, she, they, their, him, and her. Desai's second sentence distinguishes the third-person narrative point of view when she writes, "They had their tea, they had been washed and had their hair brushed..." Using the third-person point of view allows the reader to understand Ravi's emotions and feelings throughout various scenes. When Ravi initially hides in the dark shed, he is frightened, anxious, and worried. However, Ravi begins to feel elated when he thinks about the possibility of winning the game. After Ravi runs out of the shed to touch the "den," the reader grasps Ravi's feelings of disappointment and despair when the children do not acknowledge his victory. The third-person point of view allows the reader to understand Ravi's emotions, which change throughout the story.
The narrative point of view for this story is always third person; however, the third person narrative voice does shift from a third person omniscient narration to a third person limited narration.
The story begins in the omniscient point of view, and then the story shifts to the limited point of view a little bit after the game of hide-and-seek begins. At that moment, the reader is taken into the limited perspective of Ravi. We only know what he knows and sees what he sees. The shift allows readers to more closely experience Ravi's fears of Raghu and deep desires about winning the game and becoming a champion for a bit. The narrative shift also lets readers really feel the crushing disappointment that Ravi experiences at the end of the story.
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