Previous Next

What Is Setting in Literature? (Definition) 

Setting refers to the time and place of the action in a narrative work. A single work may have multiple settings, if characters make large moves through time and space. Setting helps build the world that the characters are living and interacting with each other in, and it provides essential context for the characters’ choices.  

Imagine two groups of teenagers. Are they pawns of a dystopian state, training for a fight to the death in the arena, like in The Hunger Games? Or are they working-class kids in mid-1960's America, clashing with the preppy Socs, like in The Outsiders? These characters have very different and specific challenges and options based on where and when the story takes place.  

Examples of Settings 

Example 1: “Araby” by James Joyce
Dublin, Ireland, early 1900s 

The short story “Araby” begins with the narrator giving an account of his neighborhood and the games that he and his friends used to play after school. As is often the case with Joyce, the setting is crucial; in addition to being a love story and a coming-of-age story, “Araby” is a story about Ireland. “Araby” is part of Dubliners, a collection of fifteen short stories about life in Dublin at the start of the twentieth century. Joyce immerses his readers in a vivid depiction of North Richmond Street, so detailed that it becomes impossible to imagine “Araby” taking place anywhere else. Joyce’s rendering of the sights and experiences of Dublin makes the city itself feel like a supporting character in the unfolding story.  

Example 2: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Afghanistan and the United States, 1960s - 2000s 

The setting of Afghanistan is essential to the novel’s arc because the violence and betrayal that is visited upon the country is mirrored in the events that happen to the main characters. In the beginning, we see the idyllic Afghanistan of Amir’s youth, before the military coup overthrows the King. As children, Amir and Hassan have the freedom to climb trees and skip stones on the water. Amir’s childhood memories with Hassan are marked by the relatively stable nature of his country. 

When Soviet military forces invade Afghanistan a few years later, young-adult Amir and Baba escape to America. This setting represents not only a respite from persecution, but a potential exile from the guilt Amir has felt toward Hassan for years. Amir finds himself assimilated within a community of displaced Afghans in California.  

Finally, there is the Afghanistan that Amir returns to as an adult, which has been ruined by years of fighting and Taliban rule. This setting is the Afghanistan in which Amir fights Assef and rescues Sohrab, ultimately atoning for his sin against Hassan and finding inner healing. 

Example 3: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston 
Setting: Florida, United States, early 1900s 

Their Eyes Were Watching God is primarily set in the town of Eatonville, Florida. The real community of Eatonville, incorporated in 1887, was one of the first self-governing Black communities in the United States. Eatonville provided safety and economic opportunity for its Black residents. Hurston’s choice to set the beginning and end of the novel in Eatonville roots the story in the Black experience. By making Janie’s main home within the town, Hurston emphasizes that despite the various difficulties and losses in Janie’s life, she still belongs somewhere. Additionally, the prestige of Eatonville rebukes the stereotype that all Black Americans were downtrodden and poor; their community was as vibrant and differentiated as any community of white people. 

Common Misunderstandings about Setting  

Sometimes students get confused about the differences between plot and setting. One way to think of it is that the plot is the cause-and-effect sequence of events in the story, while setting is the backdrop to these events. However, this might make it seem like the setting of a book or play is relatively insignificant. On the contrary: setting can drive character development, provide a meaty conflict, or signify a particular theme. 

Why Does the Setting Matter? 

The first thing that setting does for a story is allow the reader to picture the world in their mind. A well-chosen setting evokes a particular mood, and vivid detail fills out the picture so that the story comes alive in the mind of the reader.  

Setting can also place restrictions on what options the characters have that are key to driving the plot forward, or useful for character development. For example, in Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet’s adamant refusal to accept a subpar suitor has the possibility of real economic consequences, including expulsion from the family home and an impoverished future. This reveals aspects of Elizabeth's character that wouldn’t show up, perhaps, in a modern-day romance set in the United States, where the stakes are less likely to be this high. 

In addition, the setting provides material for literary devices, such as symbols and motifs, that add meaning to the text. For example, in Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe depicts the locusts that descend upon the village in highly allegorical terms that prefigure the arrival of the white settlers, who will feast on and exploit the resources of the Igbo. The fact that the Igbo eat these locusts highlights how innocuous they take them to be.  

Previous section Protagonist Next section Simile

Take a Study Break