Setting

The first thing that it is important to note about the story “Dancing to Nat King Cole” by James Wall is the lack of a determined time setting. The year when the events take place is not mentioned, which makes the story universal and suggests that the events might as well take place anywhere, at any time (in the modern day). Note, though, that the events spread over the course of a month, from the day Katherine and Charles went to lunch with Rebecca to the day when Charles probably fell down the…

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Physical setting

The main physical setting is represented by the house in which Katherine and Charles live. Everything in the house is chaotic and not how it used to be in the past, mostly because of Charles’ disease:

She doesn’t tell Rebecca that he follows her around the house and calls her name if left alone fo…

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Social setting

The short story uses the social setting to explore several issues. On the one hand, it focuses on people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and the way it affects them and those around them. Charles is clearly ill, and the disease makes him forget even the most elementary things, like not…