The setting for the story is an estate in Ireland during the years 1847 and 1848. The country is in the midst of the Great Potato Famine that began in 1845 and ended in 1849. The dates are documented in Miss Heddoe's diary entries related to the famine that is plaguing the country at the time.

The author uses both the third person omniscient and the first person points of view. As the story begins, the narrative describes Fogarty's perceptions about his situation of being in service to the latest generation of the Pulvertaft family. An unnamed person, who surmises Fogarty's thoughts and relates them to the reader, tells the story. Fogarty does not reveal them to anyone through dialogue, but the author allows the reader to learn of Fogarty's thoughts through omniscience as background for the story.

The narrative frequently transitions from this point of view to that...