Setting

The short story “With His Own Two Hands” by Albert Garcia takes place in the United States of America, at an unspecified date, which suggests it was probably meant to be read as contemporary to the time of publishing.

Physical setting

The main physical setting is the train station where the narrator is at the time of the narration. However, several other places appear in the narrator’s recollections, from Los Angeles and Texas. He remembers his grandparents’ house in Texas: “They lived on a small farm outside El Paso. They had chickens, goats and a horse, and my grandpa said he built his house and the fence that surrounded it with his own two hands.” (ll. 2-4)

The narrator’s house in Los Angeles is also briefly mentioned, but only to suggest his attitudes towards his grandparents: “I hid the pictures of them and their farm when my friends came over. I don’t remember when I started to feel like that, but I remember when I stopped.” (ll. 19-20)

The most important element of the physical setting remains, however, the train station. The place is importa...