I feel that the setting in the novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, is not developed well enough to be considered another dynamic character in the book. Because there are so many different settings in the novel, it's hard to grasp each one independently from another. A example of this being "...Whistle stop could have passed for the North Pole last week. Is there anything prettier than seeing the red holly bushes covered with snow?" pg, 126. I think that the author could of developed the scene more, personalizing it to the cafe if she was really wanting the setting to be a major focus in the author, instead I feel this description is lacking any real depth and doesn't bring anything to the setting of whistle stop. Another example of this being "Opal asks that the neighbors not feed her cat, Boots, even though she acts like shes hungry and begs..." pg, 150. I realize that Flagg was trying to create a sense of a small town, neighborly setting, but I just think that it wasn't clear enough, and a little confusing the way she attempts to give the reader incite to the Whistle Stop town. I get the picture that it's small, and somewhat boring but I think the real focus is placed on the characters rather than the setting.
In Fried Green Tomatoes, the author made a significant decision in setting part of the novel in the 1930's. By doing so, she captures the importance that racism had on the town. Race defined who they were and was deeply rooted in their characters. For instance, Idgie and Ruth treated blacks with respect and as equals, which conveys to readers their accepting nature. Without the setting that portrays racism, we would not have this significant development of the characters. With this being said, I have to disagree with your viewpoint that the development of the setting is not important to the progression of the novel and its characters.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Gertrude87. The author really made the setting important because she wanted to use the time period involing rascism to show Eveyln that her life isn't so bad after all. And the fact of Whistle Stop being a small town helps show that even though everybody is in everbody's business people still learn to get along and communicate without hating people for no reason.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with you, I think that the multiple settings and time periods are what makes the book so intriguing. Even dismissing one setting, like the nursing home for example, would change the whole book entirely. You would loose two characters, you wouldn't be able to fully understand many characters, and you wouldn't get the whole story. All of the settings are crucial to what the book is about.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with you. Just because the author doesnt describe the scenory and what the town looks like doesnt mean that you get a small town feel from what the charecters say or how they act. The whole town, no matter who they talk to knows this person or that person. I do agree however that there are alot of settings in the book. But all the differnet settings a nessacary or else, i feel likw, the book wouldnt make any sense!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you. The only way the setting can be considered a character, is if it's built up. The author needs to put a lot of effort into building up and describing the setting and really giving it a lot of character. Also, the fact that there are many different settings, and the author would need to build up each one individually makes your claim all the more accurate.
ReplyDeleteI have to disagree. It may not be as blunt as some books, but the setting is developed in subtle ways. The way that Flagg devlopes the people in the town is very important too. By her basically taking an entire chapter to talk ab out the Threadgood family shows that Whistle Stop is a very close knit town. Would you open your house to a stranger? The Threadgoode's did, it shows that everyone cares about eachother, which helps the small town feel. And how she mentions the racism problems is very good too. It may not seem like it now, but serving African Americans back then was very taboo, thats why Flagg made a piont to show that Ruth and Idgie did.
ReplyDeleteI am loving this thread! Though I too disagree with shaykel, I think she did a great job of backing up her point!
ReplyDeleteThese are some great comments, from all of you. I love how intelligent and respectful this thread was. While you were all disagreeing with one another, you backed up your own points and avoided judgmental language! I am swelling with pride right now! Nice work!
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