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Satire
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
Setting
Explanation and Analysis:
The story's shifting settings trace the movement from fantasy to horror. Bradbury begins with a mundane suburban street, where Braling and Smith stroll "at about ten in the evening, talking calmly." Both are "eminently sober." The world is one of routine and restraint, reflecting the dissatisfaction both men feel in their marriages.
Braling dreams of escape, and the setting of Rio de Janeiro becomes a fantasy of freedom.
He squinted his eyes and could see the sea and the mountains and the yellow sand. The sound of the waves was good to his inward mind. The sun was fine on his bared shoulders. The wine was most excellent.
Rio, here, represents everything that Braling's life is not. Rio is vibrant, warm, and alive. But this vision never materializes. Instead, the story's final setting traps him literally underground. Braling Two imprisons him in a cellar. This cellar is no science fiction prison, it is the kind of space found in any home. Ultimately, the setting shifts from suburban monotony to tropical dream to dark confinement.
Bradbury uses setting as a way of revealing Braling's inner life. The settings grow more extreme until his fantasy spins out of control, and the world around him reflects the cage he has built for himself.
Related Themes:
