Setting and time

Belfast is a ticking bomb

This is suggested by the fear of the father and the “sound of ambulances criss-crosses in the dark” (p. 113, ll. 20-21) And: “Your hand shakes in the morning, Da, because you’re a coward. You think the world is waiting round the corner to blow your head off.” (p. 114, ll. 29-30)

The narrow setting is the house the two characters live in. All the action takes place there; the son even gets shot inside his home.

The house is not depicted with specific details. There is no precise information about how the house looks like. Instead, the author uses sound details to convey a certain feeling about the setting: the “click” of feet (p. 113, l. 22), the “snap of a switch” (p. 113, l. 5) and a paper that “crackles like fire” (…