Setting and narrator

In what follows, we will discuss the setting and narrator of the short story “The Strong Man” by George Garrett.

Setting

“The Strong Man” was published in 1985 and was probably intended by the author to be read as a contemporary story. The action spans over one evening and involves two main characters and a secondary one, with the events being set in Pisa, Italy (p. 44, l. 18).

Physical setting

The physical setting represents parts of the city and its landscape.

...

Social setting

The social setting is combined with elements of the physical setting to better convey the atmosphere.

...

Narrator

The short story “The Strong Man” by George Garrett is a third-person narrative, the author using a storyteller who confines to the perspective of a single character, the woman.

This is indicated by the fact that we know what the woman thinks and feels, while the other characters are depicted only through their external actions or their speech: “She looked at him, studied him as she might have examined a perfect stranger…” (p. 44, ll. 6-7); “She felt dazed, as if not only Harry but the whole world was unreal, vanishing.” (p. 46, ll. 3-4)

...