Absurdistan: Setting

In Absurdistan, the setting is of utmost importance. This is so because it affects the main character, Misha, so much. He does not like the place where he lives in Russia and wants to go to America but he can't. This affects him in a very negative way making Russia his worst nightmare because he gets no joy from living there. Misha is haunted by the bleakness of his homeland and longs for America which affects many aspects of his character even happiness. Money also plays a big part in this novel. This is shown by the fact that Misha's father is only referred to as the twelve hundred some richest man in Russia and not by his real name. In the novel America symbolizes the happiness inside of Misha. Visualizing the setting of this book is not hard because it is portrayed as a desolate landscape with poor neighborhoods. If this book had a different setting it would make no sense at all because Misha's character is based so much on the blandness of Russia.