Question

Consider this line from the story: 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. What does Desai mean when she says the children “burst like seeds” into the veranda? What does this description convey?

Answer 1

Desai uses the simile of seeds bursting out from a pod for the children bursting out into the open from the forced confinement in the house to avoid the extreme summer heat.

This description conveys the suffocation that the children feel when they are forced to stay indoors. The mother in the story keeps the door bolted to hold them inside and save them from the sweltering summer heat. The children, brimming with energy, hate this confinement. When they succeed in persuading the mother to unbolt the door, they rush outside to enjoy their freedom, just like seeds bursting from the barriers of a pod.

Answer 2

A pod is a shell that holds a plant's seeds (such as peas). When these pods become ripe, they burst open, releasing the seeds to the ground.

The comparison implies that the children were desperate to go outside, so that when the door was open, they burst out desperately and suddenly, just like the peas of a pod.