Setting

Time setting

Samuel Wilkes’ short story “Self Defense” was published in 2014. Several details in the story suggest that the events take place in the late 1990s or early 2000s, such as references to Quentin Tarantino (l. 27), who became famous in late 1992 with his movie Reservoir Dogs, and Tupac’s song “2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted” (l. 78), which was released in 1996.

Norman also mentions that they escaped Tennessee State Penitentiary (l. 188). However, this prison has been closed since early 1992. This suggests that the story takes place in a fictional timeline and that the specific time of the events is less important than the relationships depicted.

Physical setting

The events take place on and around Interstate 65 (I-65), as Norman and Daniel travel from Nashville through Alabama towards the Gulf of Mexico in a Camaro car (ll. 1-4). Their trip lasts for most of one night: they leave Nashville shortly after midnight (l. 1), and Norman is caught by the Alabama State Troopers around 6 a.m. (l. 181).

Norman and Daniel stop at a 24-hour gas station (l. 17), and Norman briefly describes the surroundings: “Two parking lot lights flickered, all the others were dead.” (ll. 18-19); “the flickering lights created a strobe effect.” (l. 26).

They then stop at the Green Duck strip club (l. 50) in Decatur (l. 48), which has a sign of an animated neon leg (l. 50). Inside the bar, there are three men, the bartender, and dancers. Norman notices some of the songs they are playing in the bar.

Norman and Daniel then approach Cullman city (l. 84), and Daniel picks an old two-story plantation house with four columns (ll. 134-135) for them to rob. The house is almost isolated: “The house stood amongst a dry field that held nothing but dirt and overnight ice. The closest neighbor sat over a hundred yards down the empty road.” (ll. 138-139). Norman then describes the inside of the house:

We entered the old house through the back screen porch. The den held ticking antique clocks, homemade pottery, plastic candies, and stuffed mallards. I could smell the years lived. The dining room was unfortunately modest, with no fine china or silver set out on display. (ll. 147-150)

Norman is startled by the clocks in the house, which mark the arrival of 4:00 a.m. (ll. 152-156). Daniel decides to enter one of the bedrooms:

Each step down the hallway creaked softly on the worn hardwoods. All the doors stood shut. Daniel chose the last one since it seemed to be the master. I could not see, but sensed that he looked back to wink before gently opening the bedroom doo...

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