I'm an English teacher. This job casts me into one of two categories: people who love literature, and people who hate children. A quick look at my resume will prove me unqualified for the latter group, so you can use process of elimination to decide where I belong. Literature is all about stories. There are certain elements that every story contains: theme, character, plot, structure, setting, point of view, and style. If you examine your life, you'll find that your own story fits this model quite well. We may not realize this in the middle of a particular chapter of our story, because life in real-time tends to look more like a sporadic collage of events than a linear, structured tale that can be shared around a campfire or written down in a book. Yet, when we look into our past, we can connect the dots enough to see the picture that is formed by our choices and actions. And what we see can be pretty astounding.
One element of my story that has been the topic of much of my thought lately is setting, the where and when of a story. If you're like me, you've spent most of your life taking your setting for granted, thinking your setting isn't a variable in the same way that your plot and supporting characters are; it's just the pages upon which the story is written. I recently realized that this isn't true. In my favorite novel, Crime and Punishment, Russian genius Fyodor Dostoyevsky spends much of the first chapter painting the picture of his setting. He describes the slums of St. Petersburg thoroughly, including color, smell, organization, sanitation, weather, use of space, and attitude.
Dostoyevsky takes these pains because he knows that we can't understand the story's protagonist, Raskolnikov, until we understand his setting. Think about your setting. What kind of area do you live in? What kinds of places do you go? What kind of people do you come into contact with? What is the general atmosphere of your surroundings? Now, think about the main character of your story--you. How are you shaped by your setting? What does your setting make possible in your life? What does your setting hold you back from? You are who you are because of where you are. And if you haven't been in your present setting long enough for that to be true, if you stick around long enough, it will become true. Because again, setting is not a non-variable facet that the rest of the story is thrown onto; it is a carefully crafted ingredient that is crucial to the story's plot, from start to finish.
Raskolnikov's setting made him an axe murderer. What will your setting make of you?
What an intriguing thought: our setting & ourselves have this interesting relationship where each influences the other. Thus our community is sometimes called "our sphere of influence"! Most think of how we can influence those around us, but you bring up an interesting idea: our community influences US whether we realize it or not.
ReplyDeleteYour statement "Raskolnikov's setting made him an axe murderer" struck me. Can our setting "make us" into anything? Don't we always have a choice? Many would say that he chose to become that and he could have overcome his circumstances.
I don't know that it is black and white, though, is it?
Love this post! I've been looking for English-major-ish blogs to follow!
Jess (Buzzell) Heindel
Jess Heindel! How awesome to hear from you in such a thought-provoking manner!
ReplyDeleteYou bring up a very valid point. I want to give this idea some more thought, but here are my immediate thoughts:
By asserting that "Raskolnikov's setting made him an axe murderer," I wanted to make the point that his setting was of great influence in his becoming who he did. There were certainly other factors: his family background, his eccentric ideas gained throughout his education, and his mental condition that would be diagnosed today as clinical depression. Despite all of this, I wanted to examine the effect of Raskolnikov's surroundings on his actions, and I conclude that setting played a very significant role.
You're right, though, to say that it "made him an axe murderer" is a bit of hyperbole. He could have, as you said, overcome his circumstances. And, I would say, very few things are black and white.
Thanks!