“The Postmaster” is set in the fictional village of Ulapur in Bengal, India during the Raj, or the period when India was under the rule of the British Empire (1858-1947). The Raj was a period of immense turmoil in India, as imperial forces tried to impose their own system of government on a country that was, until that point, self-governing. This led to racialized oppression, high taxation, and poor labor conditions for the majority of Indians.
The Postmaster in the story works for the British government along one of the postal routes that they set up throughout the subcontinent. As someone from a middle-class background, he does not experience the negative effects of the Raj as the working-class people of Ulapur do, such as the character Ratan. Ratan represents poor, lower-class Indians who experienced financial instability and food scarcity during this time period. What’s more, Ratan is female, meaning she has even less opportunity to find work beyond providing menial labor for men like the Postmaster.
Another important element of the setting is the rural jungle location. The story starts with the statement that the Postmaster “was a Clacutta boy—he was a fish out of water in a village like this.” Throughout the story, the Postmaster is both amazed by the natural world around him in the jungle—wanting to write poetry about it—and also beleaguered by it, ultimately deciding to head home to Calcutta when the torrential rain and more primitive living conditions get to be too much.
