His book ranges over the South Pacific in which a sailor comments "the water was more blue than I had ever seen" (Osterholm 426). Most of the book takes place either on Japan or off the coast where "the sky was always blue and the trees always green" (Cusick 491-492). The story takes place during World War II and is on Korea, Japan, as well as smaller islands described as "lush" (Bennett 225). Michener's love of setting and of geography is extremely apparent in this story.
Michener's illustration in Fires of Spring is one that takes place in America. A poor Quaker orphan who travels across the country visiting every state but Florida, Washington, and Oregon (Cusick 492). The orphan however, spends much of his time in Pennsylvania and then onto New York from the 1920's to 1930's (Bennett 226). The childhood is spent on a Pennsylvania canal where barges represent serenity (Havinghuist 55-56). Michener's use of setting in Fires of Spring comes from his own experiences during his lifetime.
Bridges at Toko-Ri brings the reader back to the South Pacific. This time the story is set during the Korean War and on an airbase in South Korea (Havinghuist 56). Another example of setting is the pilot's plane who feels his plane is a second home "because it's his security blanket" (James 207). The pilot spends much of his time on an air base which is located in Korea (Osterholm 426-427). The pilot views the base as his home almost forgetting that he won't live there after the war is over.
Tales of the South Pacific uses certain characterization techniques in order to unify the story. Michener uses re-occurring characters in order to bring many stories into one large story (Barich 378). However, the various characters, although re-occurring, are flat and unrealistic leaving the reader with a feeling that the characters fail to unify the story (Cusick 491-492). Michener does use the characters to speak of his own experiences and thoughts by using them as two-dimensional witnesses (Krebs 189).