This poem takes place in the landscape of classic “film noir” cinema of the 1930s and 1940s. This is hinted at through the character names and the iconography of trench coats, whiskey, and gunfire. The poet draws from the reader’s own preconceptions of this time period to shape the poem’s themes. Because these themes are so recognizable, the setting illustrates how less has changed in the intervening years than one would think.