Setting

Physical setting

The short story “Close to the Water’s Edge” by Claire Keegan was published in 2007. However, Richard mentions Bill Clinton speaking about becoming the US President, which places the action around 1991 or 1992, when Bill Clinton ran his first presidential campaign: “Did you hear about this guy Clinton? Says if he’s elected President he’s gonna let queers into the military’” (p. 147, ll. 1-2). Before 1994, gay men and women were not accepted in the military. 

The main physical setting is the Texas coast, where the young man’s mother and stepfather, Richard, live in a building complex. The description of Richard’s penthouse suggests a sarcastic tone, conveying the young man’s disapproval of Richard: 

The plastic leaves of the tall, potted plants (…) He does not care for the penthouse with its open-mouthed swordfish on the walls, the blue tiles and all the mirrors that make it impossible to do even the simplest thing without it being reflected. (p. 144, ll. 5-6)

At the same time, the mirrors that bother the young man sugge...