Setting

Time

The short story "The Music Room" by Stephen King is set during the period known as the Great Depression: “The depression—what the Journal-American had taken to calling the Great Depression” (p. 122, ll. 20-21). This period began in the late 1920s and lasted for most of the 1930s. More specifically, the story most likely takes place in 1937 or the beginning of 1938, as we know the Journal-American was in “its first year of publication” (p. 119). The text also makes numerous references to comic strips that were popular during the time of the Great Depression. Mr. Enderby reads The Katzenjammer Kids (p. 120, l. 21), Dick Tracy (p. 120, l. 33), Nancy (p. 121, l. 23), and Flash Gordon (p. 122, l. 6). The short story also mentions songs that were popular during the time of the story: “played ‘I’ll Never Be the Same.’ Then she played ‘I’m in a Dancing Mood’ and ‘The Way You Look Tonight’ ” (p. 124, ll. 6-8).

The action of the story takes place over the span of a few minutes or hours. The story is set in the evening: “Tonight the only music in the music room was the symphony of nighttime traffic” (p. 120, ll. 2-3). The story also refers to past events through flashbacks, for example, when Mrs. Enderby remembers how they kidnapped Timmon...