what era is "Because of Winn Dixie" set in? tia, nft!!

[katilac]

nft

[Robin in Tx]

The setting is never explicity stated in the book, but I would say around the 1950s, give or take a little. Sorta like Mayberry.

[katilac]

thank you!!

[momofkhm]

:iagree:

This was my thinking as well.

[Robin in Tx]

You're welcome! The story can't be set before the existence of Winn Dixie grocery stores, and I don't think they are much older than the 1950s, maybe 1940s.

[Jenny in Atl]

I found this... looks more current, maybe 70's and up. I know the movie seemed more a present time setting.

SETTING
The time setting of the novel is unclear, but these events could not have happened before Winn-Dixie grocery stores opened in the 1940s and probably did not occur until after the late 1960s when divorce was more commonly accepted in the South. For the physical locale, DiCamillo sets this charming story in Naomi, Florida, where everyone knows everyone—or at least, people think they know each other. The various settings in the novel emphasize this contrast between what appears to be real and what is real.

http://kids.aol.com/homework-help/language-arts/book-notes/because-of-winn-dixie
http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-because-of-winn-dixie/setting.html

[abbeyej]

I'd have said 70s for the book (at the very earliest) and general "present day" for the movie. They used older cars and fairly "classic" kids' play clothes from the last 30 years and set it in a "town that time forgot" sort of place, to blur the edges.

[Robin in Tx]

Late 60s or 70s could be reasonable, considering the divorce, the pet store (probably not many exotic pet stores in a deep south small town in the 50s! LOL), the ex-con who comes across as a free spirit (peace, love generation). Hadn't really thought of that before. Of course, I grew up in the 60s and 70s, and the "culture" the book portrays "feels" more like the times my older sisters grew up in, not me. It honestly "feels" pre-turbulent 60s to me. But small towns might have been slower to react to all that culturally than where I grew up.

Thanks for the info!

[Marie in Oh]

I just saw the movie again Saturday night and Pearl rode around on a bike with a banana seat. It was definitely my elementary school era.

[Robin in Tx]

I just saw the movie again Saturday night and Pearl rode around on a bike with a banana seat. It was definitely my elementary school era.

I'm not sure that kind of bike was described in the book, though. When we saw the movie, I thought it had modernized the feel of the story a bit in a variety of ways, including crude home, even though it used older props as Abbey described. Movie wasn't as good as the book, imo, but isn't that always the case?

Maybe the author left that part of the setting unstated for a reason... to offer a nostalgic resonance across two or three generations.

BTW, I was riding my bike with banana seat and butterly handlebars in the mid 60s, and I thought I was pretty hot stuff :).

Interesting discussion! I don't know I've never thought about this before. Thanks for the thread and all the different viewpoints!

Robin

[LibraryLover]

Modern-ish. Absolutely after the 50's & 60's. We are reading it now. Mid to late 70's I would say. I'd check the year the book was written, but it's in my bedroom, and the two yr old (nephew) is sleeping there now. Not gonna wake him. :chillpill:

[abbeyej]

BTW, I was riding my bike with banana seat and butterly handlebars in the mid 60s, and I thought I was pretty hot stuff :).


And I rode mine in the... Oh, wait, you don't wanna know. ;) Let's just say, I don't think a banana seat narrows the decade down all that much.

[Jenny in Atl]

Modern-ish. Absolutely after the 50's & 60's. We are reading it now. Mid to late 70's I would say. I'd check the year the book was written, but it's in my bedroom, and the two yr old (nephew) is sleeping there now. Not gonna wake him. :chillpill:


It was published in 2001.

[LibraryLover]

It was published in 2001.

He's awake. Miine says 2000. Doesn't much help, huh?

I never saw the movie, so no can contribute on the banana seat part.

[Jenny in Atl]

He's awake. Miine says 2000. Doesn't much help, huh?

I never saw the movie, so no can contribute on the banana seat part.

I have the paperback, so it would be a year behind... didn't think about that. :tongue_smilie:

[Robin in Tx]

And I rode mine in the... Oh, wait, you don't wanna know. ;)

You're right, I don't - you whipper snapper you! LOL

Okay, I have just a couple of more reasons why I thought the setting was more like 50s/60s...

- no televsion
- no modern radio/boom box
- when asked for a book recommendation, the librarian said "Gone with the Wind" (not very 70isth :)
- the librarian's great grandfather fought in the civil war. She seems to have known him, not just heard about him, so he must have died in her lifetime. In my mind, she would have been born late 1800s -early 1900s in order to be so fond of him and his candy business.

But now that I've said all that (just so y'all can see where I came up with my impressions!), I think the 70s may be it. Just read a bio on the author. Her father left the family when she was five, she was born in 64 and grew up in a small town in Florida. She says that when she moved as an adult to apartment that didn't allow pets, she had dog-withdrawl and it was during that time that she came up with the idea for the book.

I learned something new today, and it was very sweet and interesting! Thanks again for the thread!