The Mental Hospital

The settings in the novel are described poetically, but sparingly, and it is sometimes difficult for the reader to create a coherent picture of any given place. Like a painting by Cezanne, much is left to the imagination. From what can be gathered, the mental hospital at which Sad and Ida have stayed is a small hospital in a small North American town, like any other. It has a waiting room, in which Sad and Ida first meet, a rec room, where 4NO stages his play, and hallways, which are frequently (and unnervingly) empty while the characters occupy them.

The Field

In the beginning of the novel, G is seen tending his herd of musk oxen. He has built a small shack which gets blown apart by a snowstorm, forcing him to leave. The storm happens to coincide with the arrival of Sad, suggesting a symbolic...