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The Elements of Fiction
Setting
Bruce Clary, McPherson College, McPherson, Kansas
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āNothing happens nowhere. A scene that seems to
happen nowhere seems not to happen at all.ā
āJerome Stern
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Setting
Setting is the place and time of a story. To set the
scene and suggest a mood or atmosphere for a
storyās events, writers create the illusion of a solid
world in which the plot unfolds.
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Setting includes
ā¢ Locale (in all its sensuous aspects)
ā¢ Weather
ā¢ Historical period
ā¢ Season
ā¢ Time of day
ā¢ Span of time and pace of its passing
ā¢ Social environment (manners, mores, values)
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Our interest in setting is the authorās use of the
pool of images provided by setting to comment on
character and their actions.
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Setting can
Parallel characters, their actions, and their
situationsāthat is, be in harmony with them,
signifying their situation to them and to readers
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Setting that parallels character
āā¦ half decayed verandaā¦ near the edge of a
ravineā¦. a long field that had been seeded for
clover but that had produced only a dense crop of
yellow mustard weedsā¦the public highway along
which went a wagon filled with berry pickers.ā¦ a
cloud of dust floated across the face of the
departing sun.ā
āAnderson, āHandsā
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Also consider
ā¢ Opening paragraphs of āEvelineā
ā¢ The closing scenes of āShilohā
ā¢ The ļ¬nal scene of āThe Things They Carriedā
ā¢ The ļ¬nal scene of āEverything That Rises Must
Convergeā
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Setting can
Contrast with characters, their actions and their
situations
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Setting that serves as contrast
āThe morning of June 27th was clear and sunny,
with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the
flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass
was richly green.ā¦in the square, between the post
office and the bankā¦it could begin at ten oāclock
in the morning and still be through in time to allow
the villagers to get home for noon dinner.ā
āJackson, āThe Lotteryā
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Also consider
ā¢ The ļ¬nal image of the illumined portholes in
āEvelineā
ā¢ The calm and quiet of the morning that Ted
Lavender is killed in āThe Things They Carriedā
ā¢ The subdivisions overtaking Leroy Mofļ¬tās
hometown in āShilohā
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Setting can
Be in conflict with characters via a direct encounter
with nature and the elements or as a concrete
representation of social and cultural forces aligned
against a characterās desires
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Setting in conflict with characters
ā¢ Near Salem, site of 1692 witchcraft trials
ā¢ Set in 1960, height of Cold War
ā¢ Flourescent lighting, check-board tile
ā¢ āthe cat-and-dog-food-breakfast-cereal-
macaroni-rice-raisins-seasonings-spreads-
spaghetti-soft-drinks-crackers-and cookies aisleā
ā¢ Populated with āsheepā and āhouseslavesā
ā¢ Managed by āgray...stiffā Lengel
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Also consider
ā¢ The house in āThe Rocking-Horse Winnerā
ā¢ The ļ¬fth paragraph of āEverything That Rises
Must Convergeā
ā¢ The dust and dullness of the Hill house, along
with the portrait of the priest and the ācoloured
print of the promises made to the Blessed
Margaret Mary Alacoqueā in Joyceās āEveline.ā