A Long Way from Chicago Setting & Symbolism

A Long Way from Chicago Objects/Places

Chicago

The two Dowdel children come from Chicago, homeland of gangsters and mobsters, but neither child has ever seen such people. In Chicago, they ride the bus and the subway, and so they rarely get a chance to get close to a car. They're used to the city, which makes their visits to Grandma's small country town even more of a contrast.

Grandma's House

Grandma lives in a small house just outside the town line, which puts her into the county. Hers is a small, compact house. It has a basement for cold storage and an upstairs for the children to sleep in. Grandma sleeps downstairs to save her back. She cooks in the kitchen with a woodstove even in the hottest summer. She even does canning, which just about roasts the kids and strips the wallpaper off the walls. Grandma takes the pot-bellied stove out of the parlor during the warm weather...
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