Narayan had set the story in an imaginary village called Kritam. It was a tiny village with less than thirty villages. Only one of them, known as the Big House, was built with brick and cement. It was painted brilliant yellow and blue all over with gorgeous carvings of gods and gargoyles on its balustrade. The other houses, distributed in four streets, were generally of bamboo thatch, straw, mud and other unspecified material.  
 
So the difference of the big house from the other houses is very much visible. While most of the people were poor, only one family enjoyed a lot of wealth. It was seemingly the house of the village chief who hoarded a lot of money by deceiving others.