What we learn about our friends on a road trip may be very different from what we learn about them in their homes or at school. Characters in a story can also change when they move from one place to another. Authors use setting — the time and place of a story — as a device to reveal particular aspects of a character. In John Steinbeck's "The Chrysanthemums," the shift of the setting from the ranch to the road plays a crucial role in the development of the main character, Elisa.