Setting in The Four Feathers by A.E.W. Mason Essay Sample

Setting is often viewed as not important. When people read, most of them do not look at setting as necessary in a novel. However A.E.W Mason thinks differently especially in his novel The Four Feathers. The Four Feathers by A. E. W. Mason is a love war story where the main character is Harry Feversham, a lieutenant in the East Surrey Regiment. He resigns from his position just to be with his fiance but is taken as a coward and given Four Feathers which sets him to do several courageous acts to prove his heroism. Mason wants to prove that Setting is important to a story to help the readers visualize the scene and also to drive the plot.  

One way Mason expresses settings' importance is through vivid descriptions. In the start of the novel Mason describes a house in Surrey hills. He arrived about 5 o’clock on an afternoon of sunshine in mid June, and the old red-brick house, lodged on a southern slope of the Surrey Hills, was glowing from a dark forest depth of pines with the warmth of a rare jewel”(Mason 5). Mason chooses very descriptive words such as sunshine in mid June and glowing from a dark forest. Mason could have been very bland when describing the house and say there was a house in Surrey hills, but decided not to do this to put a more comforting image in the reader's head. Another example was used on their escape from the House of Stone when he is describing a river. "To their left the river gleamed with changing lights—here it ran the colour of an olive, there rose pink, and here again a brilliant green; above their heads the stars were coming out, in the east it was already dusk"(250). In previous chapters his descriptions were bland because Harry was stuck in prison or the Stone House. Once he escapes Mason comes back to his vivid descriptions giving the reader a more colorful aspect to the setting this time describing the river. He uses really strong specific words like describing the river to be gleaming in the sunset and that it was “the colour of an olive. These descriptions help again set a tone of freedom from prison and bring a better description to the setting. Mason loves to exemplify setting by describing nature and scene very vividly.

Next, Mason uses the setting as the backbone for The Four Feathers. The story takes place in Britain in the late 1800’s. During this time wars between Britain and the middle east were erupting. Harry was commissioned to fight in the North Surrey Regiment to stop or suppress the uprising of Ahmed Orabi. This is a major issue because he does not want to fight anymore because he is now engaged with his lover. Harry said “A telegram came...It told me that my regiment would be ordered on active service in Egypt...I threw the telegram into the fire, and that night sent in my papers”(35). This scene sets issues to arise . Harry is given white feathers that to him mean cowardice. The setting here sets up the entire book. Now that he wants to prove himself, he will go on to do several heroic tasks in Egypt. The time period is also very important. The book takes place in the late 1800’s and societie’s views on deserters of the military are very frowned upon. “It is the night of August 30. A month had passed since the ball at Lennon House, but the uneventful country-side of Donegal was still busy with the stimulating topic of Harry Feversham’s disappearance”(48). Harry goes missing for a month because he wants to hide himself from society's shame. He does not like his title as a coward and is afraid of what people think of his actions. It’s important that this book takes place during the late 1800’s because it makes sense that Harry has a reason to be afraid of society's view on his resignation from his military position. A.E.W Mason uses setting to set up the story's plot and to express the social norms of the time.

A.E.W Mason believes that setting is important by describing setting very vividly to express emotion and to help drive a story's plot in The Four Feathers. He uses descriptive words to help set tone and clarify the setting of the novel. He also uses setting as a factor to push the book's story.