“Spunk” is set in a rural town in Florida in the first decades of the 20th century. While the setting could be any town in the American South, Hurston intentionally includes the detail that the sheriff had to “come from Orlando,” making it clear that this particular story takes place in Florida. This choice suggests that the unnamed town in the story is likely based on Eatonville, Florida, where Hurston grew up. Eatonville was one of the first all-Black municipalities formed by formerly enslaved people after the end of the Civil War. Black Americans founded places like Eatonville so that they could have autonomy and self-government, rather than constantly being policed by white people. It is notable that the only white person in the story is the sheriff who comes to the town, fails to properly execute justice, and then leaves.
Another important aspect of the setting is the saw-mill where all of the men in the story work. Though Hurston does not offer much context about the mill, it becomes apparent that the men in the story work there because they don’t have another choice (otherwise they would have quit after Tes’ Miller died while using the circle-saw). It was common at this time in history for Black men to find their employment opportunities limited to strenuous and precarious forms of physical labor. That the large and domineering Spunk dies while working at the saw-mill hints that, while he may have been the most powerful man in town, the racist and exploitative society in which he lived still had power over him (and Black men generally).
