What is setting?

The setting of Light in August is critical to understanding the characters and their motivations. Originally published in October of 1932, the novel was considered modern literature, and addressed social concerns in Depression-era America. However, at the time the novel was published, the country was still in the throes of the Depression and, therefore, the novel is not a historical explication of the era; it is directly tinged with the dark worldview and social unrest of the Depression. In examining several generations of personal family histories for all of the major characters, Faulkner is looking back in time to examine how the country and its people arrived at such an ignominious state. The Depression was not the only social problem at this time. It was accompanied by the ascendancy of the Ku Klux Klan in the southern states, less than a century removed from slavery.