In the fall, the marigolds bloomed in great profusion and covered the hillsides like a golden carpet. This excerpt from “Marigolds” best illustrates an explicit example of setting.
In this passage, we see that the setting is a small town in the Midwest during the Great Depression. The town is struggling economically and the residents are struggling to make ends meet. We also see that Lizabeth, our protagonist, is a young girl who is trying to understand the adult world and her place in it. She has lost her best friend Jimmy in a freak accident and she must deal with all of these changes in her life at once: losing her friend; dealing with her grief; helping her mother cope with her loss; being forced to grow up quickly; watching as others around her fall apart under pressure from economic hardship; having to learn how to cope with loss on your own terms without guidance from an older adult who understands what you are going through because they have been through something similar; learning how to be strong enough for everyone else when you feel weak yourself…
