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Personification
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 setting of “The Outcasts of Poker Flat” is absolutely central to its plot. In its depiction of the interactions of settlers with their environment, it is a quintessential story of the Old West. Poker Flat, where the story begins, is a small, impoverished town where everyone knows each other’s business. That means that differences in people’s morals (a central theme of the short story) have a much stronger effect on the plot than they might in a larger, urban environment. Here, the narrator describes the town's newfound urge to rid itself of wrongdoers:
A secret committee had determined to rid the town of all improper persons [...] Mr. Oakhurst was right in supposing that he was included in this category. A few of the committee had urged hanging him as a possible example, and a sure method of reimbursing themselves from his pockets of the sums he had won from them.
Related Themes:
