“The Interlopers” takes place somewhere in the eastern part of the Carpathian mountains, a broad range that spans Eastern Europe. The majority of the range is in modern-day Romania and is notable for its wildlife and broad, undisturbed forests. The setting of “The Interlopers” is very important because of how large a role the natural world plays in the narrative. The entire story takes place on contested land, and the main conflict therefore emerges from the setting itself. Not only do Ulrich and Georg meet to fight over the strip of woods between their properties, but what happens to them is determined by their surroundings, which are dangerous and rather sinister. After a tree falls on them, pinning them to the ground, the two characters are trapped on the very same stretch of land that has caused so much animosity between them and their families. The very source of their feud, then, ends up becoming their ultimate downfall.
What's more, the story presumably takes place in the early 1900s, a time when people living in remote areas still very much depended on the land they owned in order to survive. Of course, the story makes it clear very early in the narrative that Ulrich and Georg are fighting over land that isn't actually very valuable in terms of hunting, but it's still worth noting that the entire notion of land ownership was especially meaningful for people in rural areas during the early 20th century—after all, having access to hunting grounds and other natural resources was a direct means of sustenance and survival, so it would be counterintuitive for either Ulrich or Georg to give up even a comparatively useless piece of land.
