Setting

Time setting

Graham Swift’s short story “Fusilli” was written in 2014, and the setting is probably meant to be read as contemporary to the time of publishing. The references to the war in Afghanistan (which started in 2001 and is still ongoing) suggest that the story’s present day is supposed to be seen as roughly contemporary to the time of writing. 

The story is set two weeks before Christmas (l. 2) and the main action takes place over the span of a few minutes, from the time the father walks through several aisles (l. 1), to the time when he leaves the pasta aisle (l. 136). The text also references past events from Doug’s childhood, Remembrance Day (l. 7), which is celebrated on 11h of November, and events from “A November evening, days before Remembrance Day” (l. 40).

Physical setting

The story is set in the United Kingdom, as suggested by references to two British supermarket chains: Waitrose and Tesco (l. 64). The text also mentions Swindon (l. 72), an English town, where Doug’s body is being held in a mortuary.

The main events of the story take place inside a Waitrose supermarket. The supermarket is filled with “Christmas stuff, Christmas offers” (l. 15) such as mince pies (l. 1). On Remembrance Day “There’d been little boxes of poppies, with plastic jars for coins, by the entrance” (l. 13), and on Halloween “The shops had been full of pumpkins a...