Setting

Physical setting

The short story “The Mark of Vishnu” by Khushwant Singh takes place in India. The schoolboys mention Bombay, a city in India currently known as Mumbai, where they will send the snakes (p. 2, l. 1). 

The action takes place in a rural area. The house where the characters live is very close to the habitat of a king cobra. The heavy rains flood the snake’s hole, so it climbs out. As it sits on the lawn in the sunlight, the schoolboys see it and attack it (p. 2, ll. 30-34).

The time setting is probably close to the year the story was published (1950). There are a couple of references to modern technology. The boys travel to school by bus (p. 3, l. 19). There is also a mention of milking snakes for their “anti-snake-bite serum” (p. 2, ...