In literature, the term “setting” refers to the time, place, and social environment in which a story unfolds; it is a reflection of the period, social milieu, and other influencers of the narration and the characters alike. Langston Hughes’s short story “On the Road” actually illustrates to the reader just how the setting in the story is an integral force intrinsically linked to the tale, symbolism, character development, and the reader’s immersion in the tale’s world.
The “On the Road” story is played in the setting of the great depression. Hence, this time matches up with the General African Americans’ realities, which were all about strife and deficiency during the very hectic era. Through his talent, Hughes portrays the wetness and the pain of a lifetime from the start of the narration, as protagonist Sargeant stands on a cold, snowy night. It is the blistering cold of snow that becomes the metaphor for the overwhelming hopelessness that is in everyone’s life who is trying to live while being poor and hated in a life filled with poverty and discrimination (Piper et al., 2022). Through the sheer apathy that Sargeant displayed about the snow, his primary concern was for both physical and environment, that being sustenance and shelter, as a clear marker of his bleak existence and the realistic method that he employed in survival in such dire circumstances.
The location in “On the Road” functioned as the furnace in trying to deal with racial discrimination and social injustice. A kindhearted yet proud black man named Sargeant has a confrontation with the Reverend Mr. Dorset, which vividly illustrates the endemic disrespect felt by blacks in the country during that era. The contrast is stunning with the opulent splendor of the church on the one hand and the uncompromising rejection of Sargeant on the other hand (Boyd et al., 2020). This illustrates the hypocrisy and moral corruption of a society that makes promises of compassion, justice, and ethical treatment but, in the end, uses racism and class divisions to keep such promises from being fulfilled. By channeling personally that direct experience, Hughes parades before the readers the unpleasant fact of racial discrimination and invites the audience to ponder over the social evils that have been woven into the social tapestry of American society.
As the plot is unraveled, the setting for the novel evolves to the rail yards and a hobo jungle in such a way that the portrayal of the transient and troubled manner in which Sargeant lives expands. Tents made from plastics invite one to perceive the humiliating predicament of society’s forgotten ones (Hughes, 1952). Whether a victim of misfortunes, a casualty of circumstance, or a voluntary deviant, the incomplete structure symbolizes the little hope there is for those whose lives are on the fringes of society, a situation that mainly highlights the themes of alienation, displacement, and the relent
The landscape portrayed in “On The Road” resonates with emotional and psychological turmoils experienced by the protagonists, offering views into their inner worlds in terms of who they are and what they want in life (Hughes, 1952). To create the exact atmosphere of the spot, which is to turn on the reader’s several senses, he employs poetic images. In the same way that a landscape’s bleak beauty is depicted in the form of a pristine snow-covered street, the cold glare of street lights peppered here and there, Hughes paints a compelling picture of the dangers to the existence of a community, with survival seems like a daily chore, the one for which hope has become a scarce thing.
Besides from creating background for character development, the setting of the book “On the Road” helps to make the protagonist and other characters more active, positive, and courageous in their relationships. Along with the desolate landscape of the Great Depression, Sargent’s journey also takes him to a party where he confronts the realities of race and economic injustice. In the setting, he is forced to come to terms with his own belief system, just like anyone else (Hughes, 1952). Thus, on the path of this turbulent topography of pain and injustice, Sergeant matures and lets go of his naivety, getting to understand himself more and acquiring inner strength.
Consequently, Sargeant’s counterparts, like Rev. Mr. Dorset and Chriss, would compare him to the different aspects of the social environment, which hold a form of influence on him and his understanding of religion, when Reverend Sargeant has flatly refused the aid of Mrs. Dinnage, which signals not only the rigidity behavior and hypocrisy of the oxygen era, but also the tranquility and opportunity for relief in contrast (Piper et al., 2022). Through such communication, Hughes underlines the delicate balance between individual initiative and how society sometimes fails to buy into the constraining power, therefore calling upon the people to reflect on the extent of their complicity in maintaining unjust and oppressed systems.
In conclusion, the environment of “On the Road” by Langston Hughes is not a mere platform for drama; it is an active pacesetter of the plot’s themes and characters, allowing its readers to square up with the issues of America’s past and thus introspect and come up with a bosom reflection of the present history of racism and inequality. Using assorted techniques of vivid imagery, detailed description, and elaborate characterization, Hughes takes the reader to a locale wavering under the turbulence of harsh economic life as well as racial discrimination, demanding them not just to show compassion but also to see things from other points of view and to engage brains with social complications in the narrative. As readers take a mental walk through the novel “On the Road,” they will face the cruel facts of the Great Depression era. They will see how what was going on during the era did not prevent people from continuing their fight for their dignity and justice in spite of everything.
References
Boyd, R. L., Blackburn, K. G., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2020). The narrative arc: Revealing core narrative structures through text analysis. Science advances, 6(32), eaba2196.
Hughes, L. (1952). On the road by Langston Hughes. Retrieved from https://hackneybooks.co.uk/books/299/503/OnTheRoad.html
Piper, A., So, R. J., & Bamman, D. (2021, November). Narrative theory for computational narrative understanding. In Proceedings of the 2021 Conference on Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing (pp. 298-311).
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