Setting

The short story “Chef’s House” by Raymond Carver was published in 1981, and the setting is probably meant to be read as contemporary to the time of publishing. This is also indicated by the fact that the main characters shop at Safeway, a supermarket chain which had many stores in the Northern California area at that time. The events of the short story take place during one summe…

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Physical setting

The events take place north of Eureka, California (l.1), where the two main characters live in a rented house for one summer. Other places are mentioned in the story: Oregon (l. 48) and Washington (l. 52), where the children of the main characters live, and an unnamed place six hundred miles from Eureka (l. 134), where Edna lived before moving in with Wes.

The main…

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Social setting

The two main characters, Wes and Edna, are middle-aged Americans who live in a coastal area of Northern California, in a rented house.

Wes and Edna focus on leisure the whole summer spent at Chef's house. Because they are content with modest means but can still afford rent, food, and paying some bills without having to work, we can assume they are middle-class.

The short story examines relationships and the reasons why they fail.…