A Change in Setting, a Reveal of Character, Essay Example

Setting is an important part of every piece of literature, and not only does it paint a picture of the surroundings for the reader, but setting provides much information about the characters, as well.  The use of particular words while describing a setting can also set a mood, or tone, which affects the way the reader interprets the piece.  Parallels between shift in setting and shift in characters shows a lot about characters and their motivations or personalities.

Right from the start, Steinbeck paints a picture of the setting that both sets the mood and uses artistic vocabulary to appease the reader.  The opening paragraph describes the closed-off nature of the Salinas Valley, which holds a melancholic type of loneliness between the words. Using phrases like “closed pot” to describe the valley and then using the contrast of pale gold sunshine to a cold December, Steinbeck not only paints a picture of seclusion, but adds feelings of disappointment and loneliness.  Steinbeck then transitions from larger-scale, Salinas Valley, into the garden of Elisa Allen; immediately, Elisa is introduced to the reader while looking away, at her husband, rather than at the work she had before her.  “She watched them for a moment and then went back to work,” Steinbeck writes of Elisa, which shows that she is always looking for more than what is right in front of her; added to the secluding opening scene and the plot that happens later in the book, this is a quality of Elisa that is solid throughout all of her settings.

In fact, there are three primary settings in which Elisa is seen: the garden, the bathroom, and the car.  In each of the settings, Elisa either dresses, acts, or composes herself differently, which adds a lot to her character.  For instance, she is pictured to be wearing over-sized and dirty clothing in the garden, and there are splotches of dirt and mud everywhere.  In contrast, as soon as she gets into the bathroom, we see her scrubbing herself so clean that her skin is red and blotchy, and then she dresses to impress by wearing clothes that accent her beauty, in particular.

These changes in setting (and the changes in Elisa that are concordant with them) say a lot about the character.  Elisa, the protagonist of the piece, seems to always be looking for something more.  While in the garden, her hands are described as being “over-eager” and “over-powerful,” which suggests that she has a type of misfit quality. There is heavy emphasis on her clothing, which is certainly nothing fancy or nice, nothing that would be appropriately worn in public at the time this piece was written; in fact, there is a strong contrast in Elisa’s clothing as soon as she gets into the house and cleans up.  That shift in setting, the change from a private setting in which Elisa works, to a public setting where there are certainly more rules and expectations, says a lot about Elisa’s character.  While working in the garden, Elisa wore practical and more ‘messy’ clothing rather than the nicer clothing women of the day were expected to wear.  There is one particular section where Elisa brushes her hair out of her face, leaving “a smudge of earth on her cheek in doing it.” That carefree and messy Elisa seems to have diminished entirely upon her preparation for a public appearance; she scrubbed herself clean “until her skin was scratched and red,” then put on her “newest underclothing,” “nicest stockings,” and the “dress which was the symbol of her prettiness.”

In conclusion, the setting not only sets the mood of a piece, it exposes a lot about the characters.  Changes in setting that go hand-in-hand with changes in characters expose a lot about their personalities and characteristics.