Influence Of Setting In Ernest Buckler's Long, Long After School

Often in narratives, the authors chosen setting has a subtle but important impact on the story. This is notable in Ernest Buckler’s “Long, Long After School” and Santha Rama Rau’s “By Any Other Name.” Whereas Buckler’s story focuses on the segregation of the main character, Rama Rau’s concentrates on the attempted assimilation she faced as a child. However, both literary works demonstrate that setting is key to shaping the characters. A way that the time period of the story affects the protagonists of both stories is that it influenced how others interacted with them. Buckler’s story is set in a point in recent history when the desegregation of schools had just occurred butt discrimination was still present. Wes recalls how in his childhood he was teased about the colour of his skin, one boy even taunting, “‘Look at Wes. He’s so scared he’s turning pale.’” As Wes’ skin tone was dark, the other children often made fun of the fact that he did not change much in colouration when embarrassed or scared. Similarly, Santha is also discriminated against in her school because her story is set during
The narrator of “Long, Long After School” sees nothing wrong with asking Wes about his personal life. The speaker even observed that “Wes’s [sic] privacy seemed to be everyone’s property.” Everyone felt entitled to Wes’ story because they thought he was inferior to them and felt anything he had they could ask for. Likewise, the headmistress in “By Any Other Name” feels as though she has the authority to do anything she wants to Santha and her sister. She even feels as though she can change their names just because they “are too hard for [her],” instead giving them “pretty English names.” Any inconvenience the headmistress finds in Indian children’s names she changes to make easier for her. Those around both Wes and Santha are a majority that think they are superior to