Squeaky In Harlem

Reading coming of age stories, such as “Antaeus” and “Raymond’s Run”, an English 150 student will most definitely agree that location is a central and important part of the short story. For example in the story “Antaeus”, the main character T.J. moves to a city suburb from a small urban town. He left a farm, and when he arrived at the city, he wanted to create a farm. Without the location of a city, the plot line wouldn’t exist. In “Raymond’s Run”, the setting of the story takes place in Harlem, New York. The main character, Hazel, also known as “Squeaky”, tells the reader how rough and tough Harlem is. She describes the the game of dozens and how men stand around playing it, and insulting each other for fun. The location and setting of a story is critical to the plot and determines the ways that specific characters act and develop.

The surroundings in the story helped contribute into making the theme. The reader can observe how Hazel comes of age through her own eyes, because the story is written in first person. She specifically quotes, “ and I’m thinking that girls never really smile at each other because they don’t know how…” Squeaky goes on to explain that women in Harlem do not smile at each other. This example was a key detail to the story, and without the setting of Harlem, this facet would not exist. The way Hazel grows up and behaved is almost all determined by the setting of Harlem. The overarching theme of “Raymond’s Run” is established by where the story takes place. Harlem’s rough and tough traditions make Hazel into the person she was. She learns to go against the customs and make her own path for life. Readers should realize that most, if not all coming-of-age stories are affected majorly on where the setting is. The setting of a story and the surroundings help to form the characters and plot, and without the location a plotline could be totally