Setting
Table of contents
Physical setting
The short story “The Raft” by Stephen King was published in 1982. The physical setting is Pittsburgh, USA. The events take place on a Tuesday in October, close to Halloween. The action probably takes place around the time the story was published, as Deke is wearing a football ring with 1981 engraved on it (p. 387, l.1).
The readers are presented with two important locations Cascade Lake, 40 miles from Pittsburgh, and the apartment the boys have on the campus of Horlick University. Cascade Lake and the raft are described as an isolated, threatening place in late autumn, even though the place seems idyllic and peaceful in summer. The atmosphere at the lake is tense and oppressive, with the loons crying and the darkness. The atmosphere...
