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Racism And Racism

Decent Essays

The setting is the time and place where an event or story takes place. Sometimes the setting helps us to understand why things happen in certain circumstances. Even though the characters from these short stories are from different places and have different racial backgrounds, does it affect their actions? “The Storm,” by Kate Chopin and “Sweat,” by Zora Neale Hurston share many similarities but also differ in many ways. The main characters, Calixta and Delia face many struggles in their marriage such as infidelity, or abuse. Setting and race can sometimes influence the actions of characters as read in these stories, but that is not always the case.
In “The Storm,” Calixta the main character, is a southern woman who lives in Louisiana where a storm is going to happen. She may have a French background as well from the way she speaks. Such as when she says “Bonte`” or “J’vous reponds” it is in another language (Chopin 38). She is a beautiful, white woman with blonde hair and blue eyes as described in the story. She is married to her husband Bobinot and has a son named Bibi. Calixta can be described as vivacious, energetic, and hardworking (Chopin 38). The time frame is somewhere between the late 1800s. Her family is most likely middle class. This is evident because they have their own home and Bobinot also mentions that Sylvie sometimes helps Calixta which may mean that they even have a maid (Chopin 38)
Delia, who is the main character in “Sweat,” is in a different setting

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