America

The United States, with its history of conservative and often discriminatory attitudes towards non-whites, non-males, non-Christians, and non-heterosexuals, is the broad strokes setting for the action and thematic considerations of this novel. It is important to note that there is no direct or overt consideration of "America" or "being American" in the narrative, but the dominant values of the U.S., combined with the culture struggles currently playing out within its borders, are an inescapable and entirely relevant context for Simon's experiences and the book's explorations of its various themes.

Georgia

The state of Georgia is the "within America" setting for the novel. This is particularly significant in that Georgia is one of the southern states, which have been / are traditionally more conservative and defined, culturally and politically, by various types of discrimination. On a couple of occasions in the book, Simon's narration comments specifically on how challenging...