Places to Go, People to See

I've always understood the importance of setting. As I expounded on in a previous blog, I absolutely love imagining what is happening in any story. Only two things can be seen in my minds eye to imagine a story: setting and characters. Characters are undoubtedly the obvious thing people notice when reading books. Everyone cares who the next James Bond is, but not as many people care whether the movie is set in Rio De Janeiro or my backyard. I, on the other hand, have taken into account how far setting actually goes. However, as I was reading Hemingway's AMovable Feast, I never appreciated that setting plays on more than one or two levels.

Setting is not just the rosy sunset behind the dusty western town. It is also the feel and pulse of a place. As AMF is set in Paris, everyone automatically conjures up the tired cliche images of the baguette stores and the Eiffel Tower and adorable little cars that look like the toddler children of an SUV. The actual setting of the book does touch on the cafes and shops and french landmarks, but that is all the physical importance of a setting. On the much deeper level, so many things hinge on where the characters are. This is a memoir of sorts, so the characters are not truly characters, but actual people. Those actual people are drawn to Paris. They also happen to be famous people that are world renowned. F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ezra, Hemingway and even Picasso. Why Paris? Because the socio cultural pulse of the time is to be in the new center of liberal arts, free thinking and innovative, progressive movements. It is not like these great artists and writers are spending their time writing their penny papers at the Starbucks in Kingstowne and meeting for a party at Baja Fresh or Chipotle. They are in France. Doing better and bigger things.

So does setting have a deeper pull and meaning to a story? OF COURSE. Even in Miller's class we fill out discussion sheets and one is inevitably, " What are the social and cultural contexts of the story and how does that effect it?". Well the setting is the answer to that because setting isn't always just the pretty background but also the time, mood, and all of the other insinuated things we just naturally pick up on. So while James Bond may end up in my backyard, there is probably some other reason that is important to what is actually happening in the world today.