Setting

Time setting

Raymond Carver’s short story “The Idea” was first published in 1976 in his collection titled Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? The setting is probably meant to be read as contemporary to the time of publishing, as indicated by references to aspects such as a talk show on television (p. 66, l. 31).

The action of the story takes place in a single day, over the span of a few hours. The story begins on a “clear and windy” (p. 64, l. 28) night, when the narrator is waiting for her neighbor to exit his house. The narrator has first seen his neighbor doing this three months ago, on September 3rd (p. 64, l. 20), therefore the story takes place in early December.

Physical setting

There are no clear markers about the geographical setting of the story. It is most likely set in the United States, due to the language used by the characters. There are also some cues in the text that might reflect the physical setting of the story. The narrator mentions wanting to call the ...