Discuss a short story, poem, or novel in which the geography (the location) was significant to the meaning.
One example for me would be The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. The novel is about a missionary and his family who travel to Africa on a mission trip. The area where they spend several years is somewhat uncivilized and very basic--similar to the relationships between the family members. It is also interesting to note that though they go there to change the lives of those they "teach," it is the family themselves who change the most. Sending them to spend a year somewhere else would not have had the same effect. The geography of Africa was very important to the overall theme.
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I do think that geography in a novel, short story, or poem does matter. As you said if a family didn't go to a place where life is so different and where people didn't have much money then they would still act the same. However, when someone goes to a place where the lifestyles are totally different (mainly when they are worse than peoples in america) then reality usually hits and makes you think about how good you got it. I can't really think of any stories in particular but I definitely agree that geography has a lot to do with a story.
ReplyDeleteI believe geography is a very important factor to a story. A book that I have read with significant geography was The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King. In this book, a little girl's family seems to be falling apart and her parents are divorcing. Her, her mom, and older brother go hiking on this trail through the woods. The little girl has to stop to use the bathroom and she loses her family then gets lost in the forest. This little girl's being lost in the forest made the feeling of loneliness more intense and more dramatic. If she had been lost in the city it wouldn't have been the same because she wouldn't have technically been by herself.
ReplyDeleteGeography certainly impacts a story. Imagine if The Book Thief was in America instead of Germany. It changes the book completely. Not only doe s the place make a difference but the time as well. A story that takes place in the 50's is going to deal different issues then today. Time and Place makes your story come to life basically.
ReplyDeleteLocation is a very vital aspect of a story, well...location is a very vital aspect of everything. I mean geography-wise, there is a reason for that specific place to be in the scheme of things. I don't really remember any book that I've read that fits in to this area but I'm sure there are some out there...
ReplyDeletethe saying "Location, location, location" really applies here. Most books I have read have a meaning. I don't know if anyone has thought about it, but in Twilight, I kinda thought that they used the city 'Forks' to symbolize a fork in Bella's road....especially in New Moon. Either Edward or Jacob...this chapter gave me a lot to think about..
ReplyDeleteI read a book called the great games or something similar in which people were chosen out of these 5 districts to compete in a game of life or death and whoever stays alive wins. They are given tools and such to kill each other with and survive, and if they do survive they are famous and are rich for the rest of their lives. They would be dropped into different surroundings which added additional feeling to the overall story.
ReplyDeleteLocation can be extremely important to stories most of the books i read the settings are really important such as a african savvanh the main female character watching elephants with athe main guy talking her ear off about tourism.
ReplyDeleteAny time you are reading a piece of literature and the author goes into detail about the geography, it means there is something significant about it. One that I can think of that has great details about the geography is Holes, mainly towards the end. It talks about mountains that he has to climb, the barren(sp?)landscape at the camp, etc. All of it connected with eachother and had a great deal of significants.
ReplyDeleteI think geography is one of the main driving poitns in a story. It can help to change the characters in the story, the story itself, the meaning of a story, and the symbols that we are meant to find in a story. I think using geography in literature can help set the mood or the tone of the story and as the geography develops the characters develop. For example in New Moon when Edward leaves Bella once and for all the location she's at is in the middle of the grey woods. The claustraphobia of trees all packed together and the height of them are all very overwhelming which is how she feels once he leaves. She's all alone in the world, and in the woods. The wood s depict perfectly the tone of that point in the story.
ReplyDeleteI think location of where a story takes place is an important factor in literature. It helps to bring out attitudes and personalities of a character in a story. Unfortunately i cant think of a story where the location was an important factor but i do believe that an author sets a storys plot in a specific area that fits well with the story and the character(s) also.
ReplyDeletei believe if the story takes place in a specific place, then the author intended for the characters to learn something through out the story. so yes, i believe that geography does have a significant meaning. in the swiss family robinson, the family is stranded on an island. they learn to rely on each other and to they grew much closer.
ReplyDeleteGeography is almost always important in a story. Of course lord of the rings comes to mind. Just think of all the different places and different types of land they traveled through. Caves, mountains, valleys, rivers, and etc. With out all these different landscapes Frodo's journey would've been cake and the story wouldn't have been as interesting. The geography/landscape can help to really bring out the character in a story, it can show who they really are.
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