A. S. Byatt's The Elephant In The Village Of The Blind
961 Words4 Pages
Setting is a crucial part of a story; if the setting were to change then the story would be a fragment of what it originally was. The setting is essentially where the story takes place and depending on the setting it can change the dynamic of the plot. The setting cannot only be a place, but also a time, which can drastically affect the events of the plot. The village in “The Elephant in the Village of the Blind” didn’t know what an elephant was because they do not have elephants in that area. In A.S. Byatt’s “The Thing in the Forrest” it takes place in World War II era London and it would drastically change the plot if the environment were not as harsh. “Sonny’s Blues” uses the area of Harlem to help depict the darkness throughout the…show more content… This story couldn’t have taken place anywhere else because of the importance of blind people in the mountain village and that they do not have elephants in “their remote village”. Due to their environmental circumstances the villagers, being blind, feel the elephant to get an understanding of what it was. The setting in this story is what provides information that allows the plot to make sense. If the author didn’t include that this took place in a remote village with no elephants and that everyone born there is blind then this is a story about people feeling an elephant. Although the story is about the experiences of the multiple villagers feeling different parts of an elephant, the setting is what gives the story actual substance. In “The Elephant in the Village of the Blind” the author uses the setting to apply valuable background information to the reader, which without would take away from the story…show more content… In “The Elephant in the Village of the Blind” the author uses the setting to emphasize the new experience this blind village is having. Byatt uses the setting to put the reader into the world of Primrose and Penny, which allows the reader to view the world as they see it. Baldwin’s use of the environment in “Sonny’s Blues” shows the connection between these two brothers and the area they live in. Where and when a story takes place can have a massive effect on the story itself, if the timeframe is within that of a great disaster then it is likely that that very disaster will somehow have a reference in the story. The environment in which the characters are in can change the characters themselves, so depending on the place and time the character can change accordingly. The setting is an instrument to allow the reader to obtain additional knowledge and to further plunge the reader into the domain of their