Pineapple Cake By Anita Desai

After reading both stories by Anita Desai, I found slightly more humour in “Pineapple Cake. ” Throughout this story the boy named Victor is subjected to bribery from his dominant mother with “Pineapple Cake. ” It appeared that Victor has not got much faith in her promises as she has let him down before, so he as got wise to her promise of “Pineapple Cake. ” Some of his fantasies were quite humorous and vivid, like when they are waiting for a taxi and Victor imagines, “Slipping out of her hand and breaking into a toy shop for skates and speeding ahead of the whole caravan to arrive at Green’s before the bride.

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” I found the character of Mrs Fernandez quite amusing, as she believed that she was so important, until no taxi was available for her. I can imagine these scenes to be quite funny, especially when poor Victor was knocked against the door by the women’s bottom.

In comparison, to “Pineapple Cake” the story called, “Games at Twilight,” initially concentrates on describes the hot climate and intense heat, and the children playing games outside. I feel that this story is more sad than humorous, has Ravi originally felt proud and victorious, through hiding in the dark, dusty shed.

He realised at the end that he did not matter to them as they had forgotten him. I feel that the writer creates a sense of place in the story “Games at Twilight,” by describing the hot climate and involving the way certain things looked and felt, like “The bougainvillea hung around it, purple and magenta, in livid balloons,” and the use of metaphor to compare one thing to another to give a more illusive picture of the actual scene, ” His paws and ears and tail all reached out like dying travellers in search of water,” which gives a feeling of exhaustion through the intense heat.

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Within this story not much emphasis is given that it is actually set in India, only that it is a warm climate and that eucalyptus trees surround the house where parrots sit. The only reference I am able to find that signifies it could possibly be in India is “Sari,” that mother wore, which is part of a tradition by Indian women. This story could be set somewhere else in the world as no specific description of India is given. In “Pineapple Cake,” Bombay is mentioned which is the capital of India, and Goa was also mentioned.

Within the text she mentions Bombay harbour, which is the gateway to India. A personal account of how Victor saw and imagined Bombay harbour was also given, which stated, “A ferry boat ride and a fresh coconut drink for treats, he would have enjoyed the Arab dhows with their muddy sails. ” This last statement is specific to India where victor reminisced about his father. In “Games at Twilight,” whilst Ravi was in the shed he also remembered the familiar place, and smells when locked in the linen cupboard.