Title and setting

Part of your essay on the short story “The Traveller” by Ryan O’Neill should focus on the title and the setting. In what follows, we will give you some points you can consider when dealing with these aspects.

Title

The tittle of the short story is very impersonal and is a reference to the main character - Richard Lockhart. He is the one in the story who portrays the idea of a traveller. Take a moment and reflect how you would define a traveller.

• Is it a person who is on a voyage? Is it someone who dedicates his life to travels?
• Why do some people love travelling and others do not? Consider also how a traveller is always a stranger to the places he visits.

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Setting

The greater setting in the short story is Australia. The action takes place on the streets of a city in Australia and in Narelle’s house. However, the setting unfolds only as the plot progresses: “He turned a corner and found himself in a part of town he remembered from his childhood, massive steelworks and a railway line running behind an endless row of neglected houses.” (ll. 6-8)

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