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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:
Due to the non-linear narrative structure of Beloved, the novel does not limit itself to a single setting. The story primarily takes place in 1873 at the home of 124 Bluestone Road in Cincinnati, Ohio. The true story of Margaret Garner inspired the writing of Beloved and is where the novel draws its general setting from.
Most of the novel’s flashbacks feature the Kentucky plantation Sethe escaped from, called Sweet Home, or Paul D’s time in Alfred, Georgia. However, the setting of flashbacks ranges even to fragmentary recollections of a slave ship. The novel switches between the past and present, as well as different locations, to emphasize how memories and the places where those memories took place stay with a person.
The flashbacks allow the novel to depict various pivotal moments in the history of slavery to show their lasting impact on Black communities. Most notably, by having the primary setting take place after the end of the Civil War, the novel demonstrates how the effects of slavery continued even after its abolition. Furthermore, even though the novel is set in a free state, Sethe finds no safety or freedom there due to the Fugitive Slave Act (1850) and the lasting nature of the trauma of slavery.
Related Themes:
