In Country | Style

In Country Style

Setting

The setting of most of In Country is the small Kentucky town of Hopewell. The importance of this is that it adds to the sense of alienation that is felt by Emmett and, to a lesser degree, by Sam: anyone out of the ordinary is especially conspicuous in a small town, particularly in a small rural town, where ordinariness is actually pursued. In this setting, both Sam and Emmett feel that their neighbors look at them as "weird." "People in the town still talked about the day Emmett and the hippies flew the Vietcong flag from the courthouse tower," the story explains, even though that act is at least ten years in the past. Later, when they are trying on earrings, Sam's best friend Dawn tells her, "We're the baddest girls in Hopewell." This may not be an accurate reflection of how the people in the town feel in general,...
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