In “Big Two-Hearted River” the wilderness of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, consisting of the forests, river, meadow and swamp, is the background for the protagonist Nick Adams’s solitary struggling with his painful memories. As the story begins, he is dropped off in an abandoned logging town that has been burnt to the ground and ravaged by the war, watching a train moving out of sight. This will be Nick's last contact with civilization as he immerses himself in the natural world. The most significant feature of the setting is the river, “clear and smoothly fast in the early morning”. It symbolizes spiritual renewal for Nick, his escape from suffering and the troubled world. Another important part of the setting are grasshoppers which have turned black, and thus have the same colour as the burnt land. Their accommodation may indicate Nick’s adjustment to the present situation. The setting also consists of the dark swamp which is forbidding, not to be faced at the moment, as the fishing there is “tragic”.
Jane, the protagonist of “The Yellow Wallpaper”, dominated by her husband, suffers from a nervous disorder which is enhanced by her feeling of being trapped within the room. She finds a way of escaping from the uncomfortable reality by writing the journal in which she analyzes the wallpaper, but also herself and her illness subconsciously. “A strange, provoking, formless sort of figure that seems to skulk about behind that silly and conspicuous front design” of the yellow wallpaper gradually becomes the projection of her imagination. Jane finally recognizes the fact that the woman she sees behind the wallpaper is really her own frame of mind. She believes that she has at last gained her freedom when in reality the “creeping” is the final summary of her insanity.
In “Big Two-Hearted River”, Nick is most intrigued by the river, which he uses to provide food for himself and much more: he finds healing through it. He feels continually haunted with frightening flashbacks of his past suffering and grief but turning to fishing releases his mind from the terrible memories. Throughout the story, setting up his tent, catching fish and cooking by himself, lifts Nick’s spirit by creating his own personal utopia. He finds nature to be the best escape from the cruel world. He creates his own paradise on earth, assessing his situation with the word “good” in the same way as God assessed His creation in the Old Testament.
In conclusion, the way of presenting setting and characters in both stories is similar to some extent. First of all, Jane and Nick’s experiences and feelings are expressed through the setting which influences their behaviour and carries symbols for them. While the setting in “The Yellow Wallpaper” indicates the narrator’s imprisonment and gradual deterioration of her mental health, in “Big Two-Hearted River” it helps the protagonist recover from the traumatic past and escape to the better calmer world. Both characters in their specific way make an effort to substitute the uncomfortable reality with something which could enable them to forget their pains.
