Light in August
by William Faulkner
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Light in August: Setting 1 key example

Definition of Setting

Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or it can be an imagined... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the... read full definition

Key Examples in Light in August

Setting
Explanation and Analysis:

Light in August is set in Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, which is a fictional county Faulkner revisited in many of his works. The main events of the book take place around 1932, but flashbacks stretch back as far as the antebellum period (prior to the legal abolition of slavery in 1865). Faulkner spent most of his life in the real-life version of Mississippi. However, he enjoyed unique opportunities to travel and learn from people outside of his home state. Light in August is one of many works in which Faulkner took both an insider's view and an outsider's view of the rural South under Jim Crow (the long period of violent segregation that eventually led to the Civil Rights movement).