Falling In Love Setting

Where Are You Who You Are? Investigation of setting’s revelation of character in the works of Falling in Love by
Sandra Birdsell and A Scarf by Carol Fields

Katelyn Lobzun
329452171
Due date: 11­17­14
Word Count: 1343

Settings used throughout stories are often meant to portray a deeper meaning of the story, character(s), or conflict, as opposed to merely serving as passive backdrops. Within the stories Falling in Love by Sandra Birdsell and A Scarf by Carol Shields, there are first­person reflections about the main characters’ journeys at certain points in their lives. Lureen from
Falling in Love has been abandoned by her boyfriend and is on her way back to her childhood
Most of the significant settings throughout the stories contrast each other, however reveal the same aspect of the characters. One example of a setting where this occurs is where the characters reside at, at one point in their lives. In Falling in Love, Lureen lives in a three bedroom apartment that is situated above a butcher shop. It is described having a
“caved in ceiling” (Birdsell 370), which can demonstrate the limited and confined life that
Lureen is allowing herself to live. Also, “sawdust and shavings ankle­deep on the floor, ceiling slats dangling free” (Birdsell 370) show the very messy, carelessness, and immobility of her character. Lastly, a “lone light bulb suspended by a single twined wire” (Birdsell 370) shows
Lureen’s last little bit of enlightening alteration that can occur in her life. These descriptions ultimately impose a visual image to be obtained by the reader as very disordered and unorganized. The way Lureen describes her life at the moment allows the reader to make a parallel between her apartment and herself. She describes her life as “between jobs, waiting for the world to end” (Birdsell 372) and “[she] left school…” (Birdsell 370). The broken,
As opposed to Lureen, while Reta is on her book tour, she stays in a very extravagant hotel. She depicts every detail, saying “a bedroom, two full baths, a very wide bed, and more sofas than I would have time to sit on in my short stay” (Shields 391), which reflects upon her wealthy and privileged life. This contrasts the way Lureen’s apartment looks and therefore their lives.

Then, Reta says “and a coffee table consisting of a sheet of glass posed on three immense faux books” (Shields 391). This aspect of the hotel reveals her character’s life as very definite and it has a clear path, being that the glass is transparent. Seeing as Lureen’s apartment was messy, these settings differ in the sense of clarity, thus showing to the reader the differences between the clarity of these characters’ lives. Overall, this explanation causes the reader to obtain a visual image that shows wealth and lavish organization. The hotel reveals Reta’s situation in life, which she is currently moving in a positive direction. This is proved when she explains that her book is selling with “sparky sales” (Shields 389), and she is fairly well off