Setting

The story “The Lie” by Raymond Carver is set in the couple’s apartment as they go through a conflict. The place feels isolated from the rest of the city, but it also has an intimate feeling since the husband and wife are discussing something private from their lives. To be specific, the conversation takes place in their living room, and because the husband says he “looked down at the traffic”, the apartment is most likely on a superior floor. The mentions of the husband’s friend reveal the physical setting to most likely be the United States: “a friend I had in my junior and senior years of high school”. The terms “junior” and “senior” are used by Americans to refer to 11th and 12th grade. 

By remembering the movie Blowup, the narrator also reveals th...