Ethan Frome and Things Fall Apart is set in two dramatically different settings, with each plot relying heavily on the novel's setting to tell its story. The setting of a story is a broad term and can contain many layers. While each story may not rely on the same elements of the setting, they each draw from different areas to bring their messages to the audience. Time period, location, and season are all factors that contribute to these two stories and make them what they are. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay Ethan Frome used the winter season as a main symbol throughout the novel. Without the rigors of winter, Edith Wharton would not be able to tell the same tragic story. The narrator describes Ethan Frome as a very lonely man, who, he explains, “was not simply the result of his personal situation, tragic as I imagined it to be, but contained, as Harmon Gow had intimated, the deep accumulated cold of many Starkfield winters.” (Wharton 10). The suffocating cold seems to emotionally repress not only the main character, but the entire town of Starkfield. Throughout the novel, readers fail to glimpse the warmer months, as winter seems to take control of their lives and act as a force holding them back. The bitterness of this cold could not be explained if the novel were set in any other environment. More specifically, the month of February has a significant impact on the novel. February is the month in which Ethan and Mattie's sledding accident occurred, the tragic end of their love story (Wharton 94). February is typically the last brutal month of winter, which means spring is right around the corner. This symbolizes how tragic their suicide was. They had lost all hope in the bitterness of winter, and they couldn't stay there to feel that sense of hope. The town of Starkfield itself, although fictional, was incredibly important in conveying the lack of hope in this story. It seems like Starkfield is a place people can't escape from, no matter how much they want to. This place seems oppressive, with the narrator saying that Ethan “seemed a part of the silent melancholy landscape, an embodiment of its frozen sorrow, with all that was warm and sentient in him firmly bound beneath the surface” (Wharton 10). The people of Starkfield seemed to have taken everything that was bright and vibrant in them and pushed it away, leaving only bitterness and cold. They seem to live in dullness all year round. Although Starkfield is not a real location, it is very important to the setting as it sets the tone for the entire story. In contrast, Springfield is where Zeena takes her medicine, which shows how far from spring - a symbol of vitality and hope - the residents of Starkfield are. (Wharton 63). This helps readers understand the significant difference between the two cities, one full of despair and the other full of hope. Most never escape Starkfield to recover from their self-made tragedies. Things Fall Apart, on the other hand, relies on a more general time period to convey the importance of its story. The novel is set in Nigeria around 1900, at the time of European colonization. The story of Okonkwo and the Igbo people could not be told at any other time because of such a direct impact of Westernization on their lives. Christian missionaries are what cause much of the downfall of the Igbo people. As Okonkwo stated, “He put a knife on the.