“Overhead shone the bright autumn sun of the Mediterranean, hanging in a blue Mediterranean sky and shining on the Mediterranean blue of Rosas Bay - the blue water fringed with white where the little waves broke against the shore of golden sand and grey-green cliff”
(Forester 9)
This setting really places a picture in your mind. Forester clearly places great stress on it being in the Mediterranean. I believe he does this for two reasons: One being that the story is obviously in the Mediterranean, the other reason being, I believe, is because the word “Mediterranean is the best way to describe the scene. You need to have some background knowledge to understand this but it works nicely. The most noticeable thing about this quote is how extraordinarily contradictory it is. This setting really makes everything seem happy and cheerful. Forester gives a lot of attention to bright jovial colours and applies the setting in a way that makes the world seem perfect and happy. Immediately after this you find out that Hornblower, the main character is in fact a current prisoner at a fort in Rosas Bay under French rule.
The happy setting is instantly bashed apart by this new knowledge. With this I still believe that Forester included the jovial setting because even though Hornblower is in captivity, his guards still show him great respect and are very lenient in what they allow him to do. This provides a great sense of foreshadowing because they are being so lenient with him. They believe that Hornblower's fate is to be killed and for good reason. The bloody military leader Napoleon Bonaparte is known for killing people and all Hornblower's holders believe they don't have much of chance on the not very lenient Bonaparte. This setting also develops Hornblower's character. Even though he is a captive he still sees the world as if he wasn't. Most people in his situation would view everything as dark and dreary no matter how beautiful it truly was. The incredibly attention to detail and colour proves that Hornblower can keep his cool and act accordingly in high stress situations. This is very important because you just know that more high stress situations will come his way.
