“We cannot understand the themes of a novel without a full grasp of the issues within its setting in a particular time and place.” Too what extent do you agree with this view? Respond to this question with close reference to one or more novels you have studied. In the extended written text ‘The Memory Keeper’s Daughter’ by Kim Edwards, we are presented with themes that contain issues which are related to the setting in a particular time and place. All elements of the extended written text work together to support the writer’s purpose in an integrated way; Setting, characters, relationships and style to full extent, support my agreement that as a reader living in the 21st century, we cannot understand the important themes of family relationships and society’s attitudes without a full grasp of the issues that unfold and develop in the plot that takes place in 1964 in Lexington, Kentucky, America.
The novel ‘The Memory Keeper’s Daughter’ is set in the particular time of 1964 and unravels over 25 years. This related to the plot and the themes because in 1964, society and medical professionals thought it would be best for the mentally challenged not to be integrated into society, but instead be shipped off to an institution. In the 1960’s, society’s reactions to people with either mental or physical disabilities were discriminatory and unjust. The setting of Lexington in Kentucky has no real important relevance to the story, but the year the story begins is significant because of this issue. The decision for the main character, David, to send his daughter away was not only influenced by his medical training, but confirmed by David’s childhood, growing up with a sibling that had many medical issues. This event of giving away his daughter is relevant to the theme of the novel; family. David was trying to protect his wife Norah from the same pain his sister, June had caused his mother. “Still he remembered the depth of his mother’s