Setting

In the short story “Sleeping” by Katharine Weber, the physical setting is the Winters’ house, where Harriet is babysitting the baby named Charles. Harriet spends a few moments in the Winters’ bedroom, where she reads their mail and looks at their wedding photographs (ll. 15-16). The bedroom symbolizes the spouses’ personal life, which Harriet has a brief glimpse into. 

Charles’ room plays an important symbolic role in the story. The Winters ask Harriet not to enter the room, as “the door squeaked too loudly” (ll. 7-8) and Charles “was a very sound sleeper” (ll. 4-5). Harriet realizes that she does not know anything about Charles, so the baby’s room becomes a mysterious place for her. When she tries to enter the room, she realizes that the door seems locked, which adds to the mystery behind it: “Harriet turne...