A setting is a very important element of any literature work. Not only does it describe a place where the action occurs, but it also helps the author to describe his emotions, vision of the action described and his attitude to it. It is interesting to analyze how in A Moment’s Decision by Glynn Sharpe the setting interacts with the plot.
The main character of A Moment’s Decision is a person who has chosen a wrong way in his life and lives in misery, which urges him on a robbery, “He had failed at everything he did in his life”. In order to describe this, the author begins a story with a poor apartment situated in a basement, where a smell of “burned grilled cheese sandwiches” flows. Together with a character’s idle actions, this describes his way of his life and his personality.
The next scenery is a winter sunlit street. A character walks along it, having decided to rob a shop. Here, we do not know whether a street is quiet or noisy: no description of crowds, only bright blinding sun, motionless cars, and a passing plane. This scenery supplements well the inner condition of a character, who is going to make a reckless act and might be full of nervousness and resoluteness.
Finally, a character reaches a store. The author marks that a character notices small details, such as a picnic table, a sound of a store door bell. Again, this makes us think that a character is rather attentive and concentrated, as soon he is going to fulfill what he has planned.
Suddenly, a scenery changes: a crowded store, noise of cash machines, a flow of warm air that excited a character. Actually, the setting turns out to be not like something the character has imagined while sitting at home. The dynamics of the setting helps us to feel the embarrassment which a character felt and to understand why he failed to fulfill his plan.
While a character runs away from his failure place, the street is described as crowded and noisy. The scenery becomes dynamic, which describes the storm within the character’s soul. The author mentions busy streets, deafening sound of cars, and quick change of setting: street, bus stop, the convenience shop, and, finally, a donut shop, where the story finishes.
Thus, we see that in A Moment’s Decision, description of setting helps the author to reflect the inner condition of a character. The following tools are used:
- describing expressive details. For example, by mentioning the basement location and unpleasant smell, the author manages to provide bright description of how a character has been living for a long time and why he has decided to fulfill his plan;
- describing weather. Bright blinding sun and cold air serve as a background for the action, helping to describe the inner excitement of a character;
- describing sounds. Noises create dynamics in the narration. At first they frighten a character in the store; then a character runs and feels lost in the street noisy fuss after his failure;
- limiting time. Using bright details gives the author the possibility to make the story short, and to limit the narration by a very small period of time. This is a very appropriate composition decision for a story, which is designed as dynamic, and captivating;
- limiting space. In this story, action takes place in a very small space. The movements of a character are described step by step, which makes a reader not an observer from the outside, but almost a participant of a story.
Thus, in A Moment’s Decision, Glynn Sharpe uses the whole potential of such a literary element as setting, making a story bright, dynamic, and well-composed.