Columbus, Ohio

Columbus is the state capital and most populous city in Ohio. The main narrative takes place in the year 1960 in Columbus, Ohio, as does the imagined story that the narrator composes during the events of the main narrative. The setting of Columbus does not appear to be particularly thematically important beyond its status as an American city and a state capital. These elements of its civic identity emphasize the narrative’s overall meditations on American culture, government, and history.

R.B. Hayes Primary School

The main narrative takes place in the narrator’s fourth grade classroom at the R.B. Hayes Primary School. While there are schools in Ohio named for United States President Rutherford B. Hayes, this specific school appears to be fictitious. Rutherford B. Hayes was the nineteenth President of the United Sates, and he was in office during the post-Civil War era known as...