The setting of a story can change its plot and character development dramatically. For example, take two short tales, “Old Man of the Temple,” by R.K Narayan and, “The Man to Send Rain Clouds” by Both of these stories have strong cultural settings and characters that are influenced by their surroundings. Setting influences characters and story events by changing the way characters deal with situations, changing cultural understanding of characters, and different settings can change a character’s voice.
Setting impacts the way that characters deal with adversity. When the boy in, “The Man to Send Rain Clouds,” asks for holy water, the priest refuses. “You know I can’t do that, Leon. There ...view middle of the document...
Setting can often vary the cultural practices of characters in a story, which alters a plot significantly. A character in Germany will have different cultural beliefs than a character who lives in the United States. In the two stories, the old man’s character would have changed dramatically if her were put into the Native American village. The setting in, “The Man To Send Rain,” evolved the characters to adopt certain customs and beliefs. As Native Americans they had different burial rites than other people, which changed the story line. “Across the brown wrinkled forehead he drew a streak of white and along the high cheek bones he drew a strip of blue paint.” If these same people had dwelt in a magical pixie forest, this part of the story would be completely changed. In, “The Old Man of The Temple,” the old man’s character was changed by the setting. His entire life was devoted to the caretaking of a temple, and even after life. If the story had not been set in a place where Hindu temples had been built, the Old Man would change completely. “All sorts of new fellows everywhere and nobody seems to care. Not a soul comes near the temple.” Culture is changed by the setting, which in turn effects characters and plot line.
A character’s voice, or unique opinions can be changed by the settings around them. The old man in, “The Old Man of the Temple.” Had a voice that was almost exclusive to his age and the way that he...
