Setting is the foundation of any good piece of literature. Without it, misrepresentations of the different outlooks and views are easily made in a story and the underlying meaning may not be observed correctly. In the short story "Feeding the Piranha," Pamela Painter carefully weaves the setting into the mood, characterization, and symbolism of the story without detracting from the quality of her writing. Upon closer examination of the setting, it reveals critical pieces of information about the true meaning of the writing.
The mood in "Feeding the Piranha," starts out with little to no presence, but becomes more prominent as the story continues. The different apartment complexes mentioned in the story create the image of the father being someone who constantly moves from place to place. As the first few days come to a close, the father, brother, and sister go to the father's first girlfriend's house for a sleepover. This portrays the father as someone who has no clear decision made in life for what he plans to do, even when he goes to one person's home or another's. These circumstances bring about a mood of uncertainty, asking the question if this man has good moral values or characteristics of those needed by a father. Shifting from one scene to the next, the pool brings additional information into the picture, giving a generalization of what the father lives like. At his apartment, the pool is "smaller than it sounded on the phone," and the front lawn has "patches of bright-green grass," (pg 32) which the son shamefully proclaims upon arriving at this industrial slum of a neighborhood. Everything here brings to mind some development area with these flush, white houses and perfect lawns that hurt someone's eyes to look at. The father's actual house resembles something much different on the inside. Where the "fridge [is] empty except for ketchup," and there are "his old Playboys," (pg 36) to read; this place has obviously seen some better days than this.
