Correlation Between Setting And Theme In Fay Weldon's "IND AFF"

In the short story “IND AFF, or Out of Love in Sarajevo”, by Fay Weldon, a student’s inordinate crush on her teacher, and the subsequent internal conflict that arose from this crush, is connected to the historical assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by the exact location where both of these struggles took place. When the narrator decides that enough is enough and it’s time to let go of her feelings for her professor, she likens her situation to the decision made by Princip, the assassin of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, to shoot him, after the archduke coincidentally found himself lost outside of the café where Princip was dining after missing his target the first time he fired. The setting of this story ties perfectly into the theme, as the realization that is shared with the reader is mirrored by the same realization that was made by a famous person in history at that exact location.

The setting, as described by the narrator of the story, is extremely gloomy as well as historically powerful. The story opens up describing a deluge over the city of Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. Although the narrator had “expected fine weather” (201), there had been extensive rainfall and “black clouds swishing gently all over Europe” (202). The rain and weather ties directly into the theme of the story, as well as further develops the setting of the actual location in which the story takes place. The rain, having a cleansing effect as well as representing tears, shows what is going on within the narrators psyche as she comes to the cleansing realization that she cannot hold on to the feelings for her professor, and that she must quickly and resolutely decide to do so when the opportunity presented itself. Also, the description of the rain leads the narration into the description of the physical location in which the events of the story takes place, and in turn lead into the development of the theme of the story through the physical setting.

The rain is described in the exposition of the story as “[filling] up Savajero’s pride, two footprints set into a pavement which mark the spot where the young assassin Princip stood to shoot the Archduke Franz Ferdinand” (201) in the year 1914. The story then jumps forward in time to the modern-day Savajero and its famous footprints that outline “the spot, the very spot” (202) where one of the most important decisions in history had been made. The narrator of this story is a young woman who has met up in this historical location with and old teacher of hers- a professor of classical history named Peter- who “was trying to decide, as he had been for the past year, between his wife and [the narrator] as his permanent life partner.” The narrator also admits to having feelings for him, and she states that she “[loves] him with inordinate affection.” (203) The two of them meet in up a restaurant for lunch within seeing distance of the famous Princip footprints.

The fact that these two individuals are meeting in a café near the Princip footprints is imperative to the theme of the story. During their meal, the two of them discuss both historical and present events, including the assassination that occurred on the very ground on which they stand. During their discussion, the narrator reveals to Peter her feelings for him, but soon afterwards has an epiphany. She realized that the “love” she felt for him was nothing more than “inordinate affection” (204) and that she had only been lying to both Peter and herself about the nature of the relationship they took part in. She realizes that this is a chance for a new beginning, and that “second chances are rare in life: they must be responded to” (205), just like the second chance that Princip had received in that exact location some 70-odd years before her. She internally discusses the historical events, stating that Princip had missed on his first attempt to assassinate the Archduke, only to find the man idling quite helplessly outside the very café where he was located because his chauffer had become frightened and accidentally taken a wrong turn. Seizing the opportunity Princip leapt to his feet, aimed his gun, and accomplished his goal. Now, in the exact same location, the narrator seizes the opportunity that has been presented to her for her to regain her independence from a toxic, and largely imaginary, relationship which she views as a “silly sad episode, which [she] regret[s]” (206). She stands up and leaves, cutting all romantic ties to Peter.

The setting of the story is intricately connected to its theme, because the seize-the-moment mentality that comes with getting a second chance had showed itself within two completely different people from completely different time periods. The one thing they have in common, however, is that their separate epiphanies both occurred at precisely the same location on the globe. Both the narrator of the story and the historical assassin Princip were given a second chance at fulfilling their intentions outside a café in Savajevo, Yugoslavia. Princip was given the chance to assassinate the Archduke, and the narrator was given the chance to escape from a toxic situation. It’s almost as if in that historical location, the metaphysical spirit of Princip entered into the psyche of the narrator, allowing her to accept the opportunity presented to her and allowed her to “shoot down” a toxic relationship that was not good for her.