The Nebraska setting in the novella shapes the characters’ choices, psychology, and eventual destruction. In 1922, Rural isolation is both literal and metaphorical, creating the conditions under which violence thrives, guilt and regret become overwhelming, and human connections disappear.

From the opening pages, the emptiness and desolation of the rural landscape are emphasized. The death of Arlette’s father eliminates the only connection that Wilf and Arlette had to their extended family. The only neighbors that Wilf and his family are left with, the Cotterie family, are miles away. Wilf notes that “when summer comes to Nebraska, each farmhouse is a ship sailing a vast green ocean” (12). Wilf’s family takes infrequent trips into town, while their only visitors are brought by the milkman, one of the few people willing to navigate the rural Nebraskan roads. Ultimately, this isolation feeds Wilf’s fantasy of being the absolute authority of his land and allows him to exercise his perceived power over others’ lives.

Arlette’s murder is possible because the isolating landscape removes any checks on Wilf’s power. Wilf and Henry are able to kill Arlette, put her body into a well, and then clean up their home without any chance of anyone catching them. When Sheriff Jones finally visits, Wilf can see his truck approaching from miles away, giving him and Henry time to finish covering Arlette’s body. Sheriff Jones, a representation of law and order in rural Nebraska, puts little effort into finding Arlette or questioning Wilf. Instead, he reinforces Wilf’s authority over his family, encouraging Wilf to assert control over Arlette if she returns and reaffirming Wilf’s status as the only source of power in their rural Nebraskan land.

Isolation also reaffirms Wilf’s belief that preserving his farm and his lifestyle is worth any cost. The land, an important motif in the novel, is intertwined with his identity because it is the only source of success and purpose in his life. The fear of losing it drives Wilf to his extreme solution, underscoring how physical and social isolation warp his understanding. For Wilf, property, routine, and control become more important than any moral or emotional considerations. When Arlette threatens to sell his home, she threatens the fragile life he has built in the absence of community and other human connections.

After Arlette’s murder, rural isolation transforms into a source of psychological torment for Wilf. He has no meaningful support system, loses his family and friends, and has no world outside his farm. While this was once what he desired, it now serves as a way for his grief and regret to fester. The rats, once a normal occurrence on his farm, now turn into a source of torture, invading his home and psyche and nearly killing him with an infection when he is bitten. What was once a symbol of stability turns into a metaphor for Wilf’s decay, as the house and barn collapse and his livestock die. When Wilf sits alone in his destroyed home, with only Achelois as company, it is clear just how physically and emotionally isolated Wilf has become.