Setting

Time and physical setting

The short story “Machine Man” written by Marlish Glorie does not have an exact time setting, but the action probably spans about a week as the story mentions “Mother's Day being on a Sunday” (l. 112) which implies the events happen the same week. The references to Queensland (l. 82) and Melbourne (l. 122) indicate that the plot is set somewhere in Australia.

The events in the story take place in an “auto-wrecker's yard” (l. 19) where there are “tonnes of busted-up car bodies” (l. 25), and at the nearby nursing home. The main character works and lives at the yard: “I live in a caravan that he owns. It sits beside the office. He lived in it for years so it's got everything I need. There's a shower and toilet block out behind the office” (ll. 5-7). The surrounding area is also depicted: “Once, when Black Jack first started the business it was a light industrial area. Then, about twenty years back, the factories got torn down and replaced with houses whose owners....” (ll. 9-10)

Finally, the narrator briefly depicts the nursing home and its residents: “…there were lots of old ladies at the nursing home. Sometimes they...