Comparing the Use of Setting in The Shawl and The Portable Phonograph E

Use of Setting in "The Shawl" and "The Portable Phonograph"  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   In literature, setting is often used to enhance or develop characters, provide realism, and create a mood or atmosphere for a story (Roberts 256). Two short stories, "The Shawl" by Cynthia Ozick and Walter Van Tillburg Clark’s "The Portable Phonograph" explore victims of war in the vivid settings that the authors have created. Although both works are vague as to geographic setting and place in time, the authors’ detailed descriptions of the character’s surroundings envelop the reader and lend an air of authenticity to the tales (Kauvar 180). "The Shawl" and "The Portable Phonograph" differ in their treatment of symbolism and characterization but their ingenious use of setting to create a theme unites these two stories. "The Shawl" and "The Portable Phonograph" both open with intense, haunting descriptions; Ozick shocks readers with her portrayal of "the Holocaust in searingly vivid sensory impressions" (Watson 892) and Clark dedicates his first three paragraphs to describing a desolate, war torn plain devoid of almost all life. Clark immediately creates a sense of a dangerous, foreboding world, describing a "sensation of torment" that "arose from the stillness of the earth air beneath the violence of the upper air" (Roberts 260). The reader is left with an impression, filled with detail, but moreover, overflowing with emotion. "The Shawl" and "The Portable Phonograph" contain objects that are critical to the stories and to the mental states of the characters contained within. In the former story, the Rosa believes the shawl protects her baby from the horrors of the Holocaust, the scrap of cloth provides her with hope that the next generation wi... ...rough their thoughts. The settings in these two stories act as more than simply a backdrop for a tale, they are used "to create meaning, just as painters include backgrounds and objects to render ideas" (Roberts 255).    Works Cited Kauvar, Elaine M. Cynthia Ozick’s Fiction: Tradition and Invention. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1993. Magill, Frank N. ed. Critical Survey of Short Fiction, Vol. 2. Pasadena: Salem Press,1993. Roberts, Edgar V. and Jacobs, Henry E. Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 1998. Sheehy, Gail. Spirit of Survival. New York: William Morrow and Co., 1986. Stine, Jean C. ed. Contemporary Literary Criticism, Vol. 28. Detroit: Gale Research Co., 1984. Watson, Noelle, ed. Reference Guide to Short Fiction. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994.