The importance of setting in Patrick White's 'A Fringe of Leaves'

Patrick White's A Fringe of Leaves is a complicated and engaging novel which captivates a vast number of social and personal issues through many themes and issues. In order to bring the characters to life and enhance their characterisation throughout the novel, there are signposts illustrated at numerous locations which help the reader to better understand their position and role within the novel, Instrumental in creating these characters is setting, and White makes no secret …

…singly important devices used to create the story. This is so because the setting provides opportunities for the reader to visualise the scenes vividly in their minds which also relate to the themes and issues being discussed at the particular point in time. Simply, the different settings reflect different phases in Ellen's life and without them, the reader can be quite sure that the story would not be nearly as comprehensible and accessible without them.