Sinclair Ross Group

Question:

thhhhh
thhhhh
Student
High School - 10th Grade

What explicitly and implicitly stated details help determine the setting in "The Lamp at Noon"?

Rate question:

Posted by thhhhh on Monday April 20, 2009 at 2:01 PM and tagged with details, setting.

Answers:

  1. soph17
    soph17 Teacher
    Community / Jr. College

    eNotes Editor

    Explicit details in the story such as "the lower of dust clouds made the farmyard seem an isolated acre," tell us the setting is rural. The effect of the wind is an implicit detail that emphasises the setting as desolate and bleak. A prairie landscape riddled with a strong, "demented wind." A landscape (and life) so dark that the lamp has to be lit at noon. "Desert, you fool- the lamp lit at noon!"

    The use of the coal oil lamp and drought on the prairies is reminiscent of the 1930's North American landscape. This is one way that Sinclair Ross ties in his setting so beautifully and yet so painfully for his reader. The repetitive use of the word "desert" reminds us of the drought conditions.

     

    Rate answer:

    Posted by soph17 on Monday April 20, 2009 at 1:30 PM