What is the setting of "Raymond's Run"?

“Raymond’s Run” is set in Harlem, New York.

The setting of the story is important.  This is the story of a young girl attending a May Day race.  We know that the story takes place in Harlem, a neighborhood in New York City in the late sixties.  In this story, the neighborhood comes to life.

So I’m strolling down Broadway breathing out and breathing in on counts of seven, which is my lucky number, and here comes Gretchen and her sidekicks: Mary Louise, who used to be a friend of mine when she first moved to Harlem…

Squeaky likes her neighborhood.  She enjoys practicing her running through the streets.  She is definitely at home.  Another example of the neighborhood atmosphere is the May Day celebration. This is a neighborhood event that takes place every year.  Some girls dress up for the maypole dance, but Squeaky prefers to run.  She has a reputation for being a runner, and a good one.

Then all the kids standing on the side pile on me, banging me on the back and slapping my head with their May Day programs, for I have won again and everybody on 151st Street can walk tall for another year.

Squeaky has a tough time with the neighborhood kids.  She does not make friends easily, partly because she has to take care of her mentally handicapped older brother, Raymond.  People often make fun of Raymond, and Squeaky has to defend him.  Running is an area where Squeaky can be proud of herself.  It is something she can get better at with effort.  In this story, she learns that it is possible to make friends when you share something you care about.  She makes friends with Gretchen because she also loves running.

A good story uses its setting almost like a character.  Harlem is a unique neighborhood rich in culture and African American tradition.  This story demonstrates that richness by creating a colorful cast of characters and an endearing plot.

What is the setting of "Raymond's Run"?

The setting of Toni Cade Bambara's short story "Raymond's Run" is Harlem, a large neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Harlem became predominantly black in the early 1900s and was the center of black culture as well as an artistic movement known as the Harlem Renaissance which began there in the 1920s. It was originally named after the Dutch city of Haarlem. While never explicitly mentioned, the story probably takes place some time in the 1960s or early 1970s. It was first published in 1971. We know that it is set around the beginning of May because the main character, Squeaky, is running in the "May Day" races. Bambara mentions a couple of streets during the story, including Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue, which run parallel to each other along the length of Harlem. One of the major landmarks of this area is City College of New York where the author attained her Master's Degree in American Studies.

The setting of the short story "Raymond's Run" is Manhattan in New York. Manhattan contains a lot of people, but the area itself isn't that large; however, that's still a fairly broad location. In the sixth paragraph of the story, Squeaky narrows down the setting location. She tells readers that she lives in Harlem. Harlem is located just north of Central Park and just southwest of Yankee Stadium. I believe that the story takes place on the western edge of Harlem because Squeaky mentions two specific streets. She mentions Amsterdam Avenue and Broadway. As for the time setting, nothing specific is given to readers. The original publication date of the story is 1971, and the story is likely taking place around that date. Readers do know that the story is taking place during the months of April and May because Squeaky is running in the annual May Day races (May Day is May 1st).

How does the setting in "Raymond's Run" impact the story?

"Raymond's Run" takes place in New York City, as the narrator, Squeaky, refers to Broadway and Amsterdam, which are two streets that run along the west side of upper Manhattan into the neighborhood of Harlem. The narrator also refers to "PAL shorts." "PAL" refers to the Police Athletic League, a program that involves the New York Police Department in running athletic teams and providing other opportunities for children in the city.

The setting affects the action of the story because the narrator has to keep her brother Raymond, who has an intellectual disability, safe in the city. She mentions that she keeps him on the side of the sidewalk near the buildings so that Raymond doesn't run into the gutter or chase across the traffic to run after pigeons in the divider in the middle of the street. Harlem, as portrayed in the story, is a close-knit but tough neighborhood in which all of the girls know each other and some are very competitive in running. In the end, though, Squeaky and her rival, Gretchen, seem to have decided to end their competition in the interest of working together to teach Raymond how to run.

In Toni Cade Bambara's short story, "Raymond's Run", the setting impacts the story a great deal.  Because Squeaky, Raymond's sister, is a fast runner, and wins the races in the neighborhood and the school, she is proud of herself, determined to be a winner, and competes with the kids in the neighborhood.  In a rather poor neighborhood like hers and Raymond's, athletics is one way to  escape poverty. Being a winner at school also influences the story because competition is a part of the neighborhood. Between Squeaky and Gretchen who also runs fast, being first is important because the winner gets bragging rights. Being at home as the babysitter of her brother impacts Squeaky also as her mother cannot afford an adult sitter. The other students in the neighborhood also impact the story as Squeaky wants to show them that she is the best, resulting in her practicing.  Setting plays a role in the entire story.

What is the setting of Raymond's Run?

As always, setting is comprised of two elements: place and time.  Both are significant in Bambara's young adult novel Raymond's Run.

The setting of place is New York City and, specifically, the community of Harlem.  (Bambara grew up there as well.)  In fact, the community of Harlem is spoken of even more specifically as actual street names that comprise many of the scenes.  Raymond's actual "run" is on Amsterdam Avenue!  However, other streets set other scenes such as Broadway, 34th street, etc.  The setting of place presents an atmosphere of survival as Squeaky needs to protect both herself and her brother. 

In regard to the setting of time, it's important to realize that this was a "current" story in the time it was written.  It was first published in a collection of short stories in 1971 called Tales and Stories for Black Folks.  Considering the date of publication and that the story is modern, we can safely assume that the setting of time is "recent" which would involve both the civil rights movement and the "Black Power" movement in the 1960s and 1970s.  Specifically, this timing augments the strengths (as opposed to the weaknesses) of a community being strictly African American.

Even though the following quote is by the author, but not in the context of the story, it is the perfect way to characterize the setting of Raymond's Run:

I work to tell the truth about people’s lives; I work to celebrate struggle, to applaud the tradition of struggle in our community, to bring to center stage all those characters, just ordinary folks on the block . . . characters we thought we had to ignore because they weren’t pimp-flashy or hustler-slick or because they didn’t fit easily into previously acceptable modes or stock types.

What is the setting in "Raymond's Run"?

The setting in "Raymond's Run" is New York City, specifically, the area that is known as Harlem.

The street names are the key to identifying the setting. For instance, Hazel/Squeaky mentions Broadway, which is in West Harlem; the other street, 34th Street near what is called Midtown. Then, in the seventh paragraph of the story, Squeaky mentions that girls are headed toward her, among them

...Mary Louise, who used to be a friend of mine when she first moved to Harlem from Baltimore.

After Squeaky and her brother come into contact with these girls, they head "toward the ice man on 145th." (The boundary of Harlem on the north is considered 155th Street.)

While there are debates on the boundaries of Harlem, Ralph Ellison facetiously remarked, "wherever Negroes live uptown is considered Harlem." But, at any rate, Hazel and Raymond and their family are in a section of New York commonly called Harlem at the time of Bambara's writing. This is easily a natural setting for the story because many of the African-American residents of New York were concentrated in Harlem's neighborhoods where so many had settled beginning with the Great Migration from the South.