The setting

In your analytical essay about “Flotsam and Jetsam” by Alan Bissett, you are asked to focus on the setting. When we talk about setting in literary works, we do not only refer to the place where the action is set but also to time and atmosphere.

“Flotsam and Jetsam” is set on an island off the African east coast, Zanzibar, which is part of Tanzania. The action takes place over a couple of hours. Though the year is not mentioned, the political references to Scottish Independence suggest the story takes place immediately before the referendum on Scottish Independence which took place in 2014.

The setting is very important in the story if you reflect on its theme: cultural differences. The protagonist is in an unfamiliar place that she discovers step by step and which is very different from the city of Glasgow, the hometown of the protagonist. While Zanzibar is sunny and inspires Kate to feel stress-free, Glasgow is crowded and stressful: “No gloomy meetings at which the main word intoned was...