Setting

Here, we discuss the setting of “The Somebody” by Danny Santiago.

Time setting

The time setting in “The Somebody” is not revealed, but as the story...

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Physical setting

Los Angeles is the main physical setting of the story, but the focus of the author is more on Shamrock Street, where Chato lives and from which he finds inspiration for his nickname. As a matter of fact, the narrator offers many details about the past and the present of the neighborhood. In the past, Shamrock Street used to be quite harmonious:

Every time I go out my front door I have to cry for what they've done to old Shamrock Street. It used to be so fine, with solid homes on both sides. Maybe they needed a little paint here and there but they were cozy.

However, during the time of the narrative, things have changed, as the neighborhood was influenced by the industrialized presence of the railroad:

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Social setting

The social setting depicted in the short story is quite complex. On the one hand, the story depicts the way in which Mexican teenagers use to organize themselves into gangs in order to survive. Chato and his friends belonged to the Shamrock gang, while the rival one is named Sierra. The fact that they had “chains and pick handles with spikes and two zip guns” shows that teenagers did not actually play games, but that they were deeply involved in what a gang actually meant.

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