Setting

Physical setting

The short story “A Very Short Story” by Ernest Hemingway takes place in Italy during the First World War. Since the soldier is American, we can say that his relationship with Luz takes place sometime in 1917 or 1918, as the US formally entered the First World War at the beginning of April 1917. The soldier meets Luz again after the “armistice” (l. 14), which took place on the 11th of November 1918. This shows that their relationship does not last very long. 

Two main settings are outlined in the story, which reflect the qualities of the two main relationships of the story. The “hot evening in Padua” (l. 1) when the soldier was carried up to the roof to watch the stars, and Luz was “cool and fresh in the hot night” (ll. 3-4) marks...