Seth Herrera, Brandon Barroso Per. 1
Setting
Setting is everything from the character’s physical and cultural environment , to their political
and general knowledge of the world and items around him, ranging from items such as a backpack to
more broad concepts like the values during a specific time period. Along with setting’s ability to affect
characters, it also has the ability to affect and reveal truths to the reader by using devices such as irony,
symbolism and mood.
Setting: Descriptions of places, objects, backgrounds or history (pg.258).
Ex: 124 from Beloved
Realism: the quality of representing a person, thing, or situation accurately or in a way that is true to life
(pg.260)
Ex: The townspeople from “The Crucible”
Verisimilitude: the appearance of being true or real (pg.260).
Ex: The history of Salem during the Salem Witch Trials in “The Crucible”
Framing/Enclosing Setting: When an author opens with a particular description and then returns to the
same setting at the end (pg.261).
Ex: Heart of Darkness
Atmosphere/Mood: Descriptions that lead the reader to a certain emotion (pg.261).
Ex: The heads on stakes in Heart of Darkness
Interior Setting: Any indoor setting (258).
Ex: The Loman Residence from “Death of a Salesman”
Natural Setting: Any natural places or objects from hills, mountains, seasons and weather (259).
Ex: The Clearing from Beloved
Exterior Setting: Any setting taking place outdoors (259).
Ex: The Mississippi River from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Cultural/ Historical Setting: Historic moments or persistent culture present in a setting (259).
Ex: The belief of witchcraft from “The Crucible”
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn there is a series of settings that
underscore the traits of characters, one; for example, is the interior setting of the Widow’s house. Mark
Twain sets the setting in this well ordered house to portray Huck as a young boy who is not acquainted
with civilized society. The raft on the Mississippi River demonstrates the symbolic purposes of a natural
setting as it symbolizes friendship and safety due to its unpopulated location and the forced
communication created by the rafts small space. This also demonstrates setting’s ability to structure
stories by putting characters into situations they wouldn’t normally be in. The journey created by the
setting leads us to one of the story’s main conflicts of Huck journeying down the Mississippi River with a
runaway slave.
“The Crucible”:The cultural setting Salem drives the plot of “The Crucible” by allowing for the hysteria
created by the townspeople of Salem, and increases the verisimilitude and realism due to Salem’s historic
connections to the Salem Witch Trials. The setting of Salem also creates an atmosphere of mystery and
deviousness that is again experienced due to the emotions created by the well-known history of the Salem
Witch Trials. The play also has many symbolic uses of setting that arise out of the devious mood of the
witch trials; such as, the natural setting of the Virgin Forest representing the devil. As more settings are
introduced, from the doll to the courthouse, hysteria continuously rises in order to demonstrate Arthur
Miller’s critique of the red scare and its effect on the public.
The Things They Carried: The historic setting of The Vietnam war assists in creating a realistic narrative
to demonstrate the effects of war and how war changes us as people. Along with the natural setting of
Vietnam affecting the soldiers physically, the soldiers’ items that they brought from home serve as part of
the setting. The “things that they carry” serve as reminders of home and symbols of hope that keep the
characters moving forward. To connect both the mindset of the soldiers and the historical significance of
the time period, we see the cultural setting of this negative attitude toward the war, especially in Tim, as
seen through his anti-war protests and his difficulties of choosing whether to swim to Canada or leave for
the war. Tim’s decision on the boat is also a great example of a natural setting creating atmosphere. Tim
having been driven out near the shore of Canada increased the intensity of his situation of the choice
between cowardice or mockery. Continuing on the path of atmosphere, there is also a pervading tone of
irony created by Norman Bowker’s suicide in an urban environment. The significance of an urban setting
demonstrates that the depression of the war did not end when the war did, but had lasting effects.
“Death of a Salesman”: The interior setting of the Loman residence represents a typical depression-era
household. The reason for this is to create contrast between the characters who aim for a typical family
unit, but are incapable a achieving their aims. This conflict creates an ironic atmosphere in the play which
parallels the relationship of the meaning of the work as a whole and Willy Loman. Willy Loman aims for
the classic American dream, while the play demonstrates the way society creates the so-called American
Dream and you don’t choose to achieve it, you are expected to.
“Hamlet”: Hamlet’s cultural setting of a son having to kill the murderer of his father is the driving force
of the play. The cultural setting assists in establishing verisimilitude for the events of the play; as well as,
demonstrates the connections between characters; such as, Hamlet’s love for his father, faith, mother and
Ophelia and the loyalties of Gertrude, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Most importantly, the setting is
crucial in establishing the meaning of the work as a whole, that when faced with two devastating
decisions we will either shut down completely, rise up, or a mixture of the two.
Beloved: Toni Morrison uses multiple settings in order to accentuate the traits of the characters, create
atmosphere, verisimilitude and lead the us to the meaning of the work as a whole. The interior setting of
124 establishes verisimilitude for events such as Beloved’s haunting, due to its isolationism. Beloved
herself acts as a piece of the setting in order to accentuate the qualities of characters; such as, Paul D.’s
heroism. Relating to Beloved’s haunting, we see the cultural setting of after the Civil war in an AfricanAmerican household, we begin to further understand and believe the events and characters throughout the
book. Beloved also demonstrates symbolism with the natural setting of the clearing, which is
representative of hope. The various settings in this book, from Sweet Home to 124 to Sethe’s journey to
124, all establish an atmosphere of dire circumstances, which seems to lead to the meaning of the work as
a whole most, which is when under intense pressure and faced with seemingly unsurmountable
circumstances we are able to make decisions that we would never decide upon.
Heart of Darkness: The cultural setting of the Belgian occupation of the Congo in Heart of Darkness
directly ties into one of the work’s overarching meanings of once journeying into the Heart of Darkness, it
is extremely difficult to leave. The reason the cultural setting as well as the natural setting of the Congo
is crucial to the work’s truth is because the setting personifies the trait of greed, that is experienced by
Kurtz, that also increases the work’s realism. Heart of Darkness also demonstrates a framing setting that
is used to structure story and bring it to a sense of completeness.