Setting

The short story “Galveston” by Frederick Barthelme appears to take place in New Orleans, as suggested by the mention of the streets Decatur and Tenth. The narrator and Rachel live in a bungalow which is “gray and was built in the forties and redone in the seventies or early eighties.” The apartment also has old furniture. It does not seem to be a very good place to live in. 

However, the narrator finds his house to be a “pretty nice place”, because it reminds him of his childhood home: “The smell of the place is kind of old (…) and I’m reminded of the times I spent on the sleeping porch at my grandmother’s house in Galveston, Texas, in the fifties.” The narrator is fond of his childhood home, because he believes people cared about each other...