Exploring the Setting in Katherine Anne Porter's María Concepción
“María Concepción’s” story takes place in Mexico. The names of the characters and the description of locations are used in the story to have a sense of the idea of the setting being in Mexico. Porter also gives a description of the surroundings to give an idea of the setting. George Hendricks article, “My Familiar Country”, enhances my understanding of the setting.
The names of the characters determine the setting of the story. The main character's name is María Concepción Manríquez. His husband being Juan de Dios Villegas. As well as the other woman's name being María Rosa. Porter met the original Maria Concepcion at her anthropologist friend Niven’s excavation site who is named Given in the story. “She met the Indian woman who became the fictional María Concepción”. She used that Latin name out of many other names for a reason. To give the readers an idea where the story is originated from. Porter describes what María Concepción is carrying on her shoulder. There was a dozen of living fowls hooked on her right shoulder. “Illustrated in María Concepción’s treatment of the chickens”. Porter portrays María Concepción as a trader taking goods to the market. The setting determines the character as a typical village woman doing her daily life activities. The description of the locations in the story determines the setting. Porter chose Mexico as the setting. “Found herself instead in the center of the Revolution”. She did not expect herself to view a battle. She heard stories about that country from her father and lived in San Antonio for a few and visited relatives in El Paso.
During the beginning of the story the story shows a description of María Concepcións town. “Now she came down into the valley, divided by the narrow spring, and crossed a bridge of loose stones near the hut where María Rosa the beekeeper lived with her old godmother, Lupe the medicine woman”. Having a beekeeper is reasonable under the circumstances of having honey, but the medicine woman indicates the setting taking place in Mexico. The surroundings in the story determine the setting. Porter never found Mexico's culture unusual. “She went to Mexico in 1920 to study art”. This gives an idea into why she used descriptive imagery surroundings in the story. The description of the vegetation surrounding María Concepción indicates the setting to be in a hot and dry environment. “Where the maguey thorns and the treacherous cured spine of organ cactus had not gathered so profusely”. This shows the type of plantations on the roadside indicating it might be somewhere in Mexico. Katherine Anne Porter gives an idea of the setting by describing the surroundings, names of the characters and location.
George Hendricks article explained Porters reason for choosing Mexico as the setting and the themes of María Concepción. Nowadays situations like cheating, revenge, hatred, death, marriage are all happening today.
