Setting

Physical setting

The story “Tell the Women We’re Going” by Raymond Carver takes place in Yakima County in the state of Washington, US. Jerry’s house, which is the setting for the first part of the story after the introduction, is located in the town of Gleed, and is described as “a nice house (…) up on a hill overlooking the Naches” (p. 183, l. 13). The house becomes symbolic of a comfortable, middle-class domestic life, which Jerry apparently wants to escape.

In the second part of the story, Jerry and Bill take the Naches highway out of Gleed (p. 183, l. 37) to play pool at the Rec Center, and they meet the girls on the way back. The last part of the story and the murder takes place at Picture Rock: 

…a high sloping, black mound of rock, part of a low range of hills, honeycombed with footpaths and small caves, Indian sign-painting here and there on the cave walls. The cliff side of the rock faced the highway and all over it there were things like this: NACHES 67 – GLEED WILDCATS – JESUS SAVES – BEAT YAKIMA – REPENT NOW. (p. 186, ll. 35-39)

The domestic setting of Jerry’s house, where “Jerry and Bill were sitting in the reclining chairs on the patio drinking beer and just relaxing” (p. 183, ll. 22-23) is contrasted with the wilderness and bleakness of Picture Rock, and the atmosphere of tense anticipation: “They sat ...