New York City

New York City is the novel's primary backdrop. The narrator moved here shortly prior to the narrative present. When she first arrived, she was glad to be "living in a big city like New York" and believed there was "no better feeling in this world than leaving work to walk along a Manhattan avenue" wearing her intense perfume (5). Over time, however, the city becomes repellant to her. She cannot stand the dirt and filth. The city's constant disorder unnerves her and makes her feel dirty and disorderly. She does not immediately leave New York, but tries to combat the unfamiliar place by cleaning obsessively and wearing fine things. She often has anxiety about not surviving in the city because all of the women in her family came to America but left.

Franklin

Franklin is the name of the middle school where the narrator teaches. It is...