Setting

Time setting

Ernest Hemingway’s short story “The Battler” was first published in 1925, and the setting is probably meant to be contemporary to the time of publishing, as there is no indication of a different time period. The description of the freight train, with a caboose at its end (l. 1) and staffed by a brakeman, depicts a typical train at the beginning of the 21th century.

The story takes place in a single day, over the span of a few hours. The story begins late in the evening: “It was dark and he was a long way off from anywhere” (l. 21).

Physical setting

The story is set in the United States of America, in the state of Michigan. Several locations in Michigan are referred to in the text: “(…) the yards outside of Walton Junction. The train, with Nick on it, had passed through Kalkaska as it started to get dark. Now he must be nearly to Mancelona” (ll. 26-28). Other US cities  like Chicago (l. 122) and New York (l. 222) are also mentioned.

The story begins next to a railroad track surrounded by water and swamps: “He started up the track. It was well ballasted and made easy walking, sand and gravel packed between the ties, solid walking. The smooth roadbed like a causeway went on ahead through the swamp” (ll. 23-25).

The main events take place in a clearing near a railroad embankment: “It was off to one side of the track, below the railway embankment. (…) The track came out through a cut and where the fire was burning the country opened out and fell away into woods” (ll. 36-38). The reference to the railroad tracks and the makeshift camp where Nick meets Ads and Bugs suggest that the characters are wanderers and probably homeless. They also help to suggest a sense of ...

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