Setting and narrator

In what follows, we will discuss the setting and narrator of the short story “Say Yes” by Tobias Wolff.

Setting

The short story “Say Yes” by Tobias Wolff is set during the 1980s in the USA, somewhere in the state of California as the reference to “El Camino” (p. 54, l. 36) suggests. You should know that El Camino is the name given to a historical highway which connects several places in the state of California.

Physical setting

The main physical setting of the narrative is the house of the protagonists and its exterior. The main action takes place in the kitchen where the two spouses have a fight over mixed-race marriages while “doing the dishes” (p. 52, l. 1).

Most elements of the physical setting play a symbolic role in the narrative, reinforcing the conflict between the two,...

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Social and time setting

The social and time setting are also very important in the short story. While the action spans over a few hours, it is important to look at the historical setting to understand better the society the characters lived in and, implicitly the theme of racism.

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Narrator

“Say Yes” by Tobias Wolff is an account in the third-person using the perspective of one of the characters, the husband. This means that the narrator is an outsider to the story, but has insight into the events through the male’s perspective.

The narrator renders the man’s thoughts and feelings in a way that suggests he has unlimited knowledge in what the man is concerned:

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