Setting

Physical setting

The short story “Tony’s Story” by Leslie Marmon Silko takes place on an Indian reservation in New Mexico, in the United States. After Leon gets beaten by the cop, he is taken to Albuquerque, which suggests the reservation is nearby. The city of Grants is also close because Leon and Tony drive there to buy a roll of barbed wire. 

The first meeting with the cop takes place on the reservation, during the festivities for San Lorenzo Day. The second encounter takes place on the highway, where the cop pulls them over. During the third encounter, the cop tries to force them off the road with his patrol car and wants to beat Leon with his baton. The encounters get progressively more threatening, and they take place increasingly further away from the safety of the pueblo. 

The story takes place in August (San Lorenzo Day is celebrated on the 10th of August). The mentions of well-known American brands such as Levis, Kool-Aid, and Doublemint, place the story sometime in the mid-20th century. 

There are many references to the drought: “the sky was wide and hot and the summer rains did ...