Framed by a series of flashbacks, The Prince of Tides actually takes place in two separate settings and two different eras. When Tom Wingo visits his sister's psychologist in modern-day New York, he only intends to provide emotional support for Savannah. Through his retelling of childhood memories, however, Tom uncovers a past that hurt both his sister and himself. Conroy, born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1945, recalls the Southern setting of his own past as he records the Wingos' childhood in the small town of Colleton, South Carolina.
Rural South Carolina life. Much of the novel focuses on a contrast between the lazy pace of a small town in South Carolina and the frenetic energy of New York City. Even after spending a summer discovering New York, its main character opts to return to the comforts of the South. Conroy, a native Southerner himself, paints a vivid picture of rural South Carolina. While the modem era brought rapid urban growth to the state, South Carolina nonetheless boasted a rural population greater in proportion than that of the rest of the country.
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