Florida

The state of Florida—and, in particular, the climate of Florida—is crucial to the novel's exploration of the ravaging effects of climate change and the necessity for adaptation among human residents of the area. As the novel progresses, the weather in Florida becomes increasingly difficult to live through until society there is entirely untenable and most of the residents of the area are forced to leave. Because the novel covers several years in a relatively short narrative, these sweeping shifts in the state's climate are condensed into a concentrated narrative, and the rapid shifts in weather and climate are instrumental to both the plot and themes of the novel.

Rudder

Most of the story takes place in the town of Rudder, a small community on the outskirts of Miami and deep in the swamps of Florida. Rudder is significant to the novel's grappling with questions of class...