Setting

Physical setting

Written in 2002, the short story “The River Underground” by Richard Tromans is probably intended to be read as contemporary to the time it was written. The part of the plot we see in this excerpt spans a few months, showing Husman working in England to earn enough money to get back home to Gambia. At the same time, the story also includes references to various events that took place before this, while Husman was still living in Gambia. 

The physical setting includes Gambia (and its capital Baku) and England (and its capital London). Husman associates both countries with the largest rivers that flow through them. For example: “The Gambia is really just a river, the country is just the scrub that stretches out a hundred miles or so on either side of the great river's banks.” (p. 3, ll. 1-2). Similarly, he thinks of England in relation to the River Thames: “It was like there was a money spring welling up in that cold country. Like a...