The Secret Life Of Bees Setting Essay

Impact of Setting Each story has a perfectly unique setting that is specific to the time and place in which the story is told. The setting of a story is extremely important to not only the characters but also the reader. It helps the reader feel connected to the characters, bringing the story to life. In Sue Monk Kidd’s book The Secret Life of Bees, setting is used to bring the reader into the story. Specific details and imagery help bridge the gap between the characters and the reader. On the other hand, Jewett’s “A White Heron” uses setting as a way to expand knowledge on certain characters, explaining their motives and decisions. Lastly, Mark Twain’s “The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” uses setting to add a humorous mood, creating a

In the book, The Secret Life of Bees, imagery is used early on to describe the setting of the farm Lily--the main character--lives on, explaining, “T. Ray and I lived just outside Sylvan, South Carolina, population 3,100. Peach stands and Baptist churches [...]. We had a big wooden sign with Owens Peach Enterprises painted across it [...]. I hated that sign.” (8). The imagery in the quote helps the reader visualize the exact town and farm on which Lily lives. By explaining the outward appearance of the town, along with the internal thoughts of Lily, the reader can begin to feel an emotional connection to her. Allowing the reader to identify with, and sympathize for that character the remainder of the book. In a masterclass article, setting is deemed important because it gives the reader a “sense of place” (“How to Describe Setting in Literature''). This component of setting is demonstrated throughout the secret life of bees. When describing the pink house where the sisters lived, it

In the short story “A White Heron” setting is used as a way to better understand the main character and her decision making. As Sylvia is forced with the decision to either indulge in her selfishness and kill the Heron or save the bird and lose potential love and wealth, the setting largely impacts her decision, saying, “The murmur of the pine’s green branches is in her ears, she remembers how the white heron came flying through the golden air and how they watched the sea and the morning together, and Sylvia cannot speak; she cannot tell the heron’s secret and give its life away” (Jewett). In this case, the setting provides insight into the character's mind and explains why she made the decision to save the bird. Without the background knowledge of the setting, the reader would lose important information about the characters behavior, motivations, and decisions, in turn, lacking a deep understanding of the character. In a Journal Article by Sheri Joseph, it explains “Jewett’s choice to portray the herons nesting as a singular pair apart form a rookery [connection of nests] serves not as a representation of reality but as a means of understanding the bird’s most important aspect in the story, its rarity” (“Sarah Orne Jewett’s White Heron: An Imported Metaphor”). In order to fully understand Sylvia's actions, first you must