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"The setting is a character in itself" is a moth-eaten critical insight about any book (or film, or TV show), but I Cheerfully Refuse stops just short of literally making Lake Superior a character. As the protagonist Rainy sails across the largest of the Great Lakes, he describes it as "a three-hundred-mile fetch of malevolent spirit," praises it for saving him and accuses it of betraying him, and compares it to "her sister the North Atlantic and her cousins the hurricanes." Even if he never set sail, Rainy's life in his hometown of Icebridge is shaped by its proximity to the lake, just as it would be if he lived in Lightner, Winton, Brighton, or any of the other villages he visits over the course of the novel.
Rainy often uses the word "sea" interchangeably with "lake" to describe Superior, and for good reason. If you were to stand on the shore and look out at the water, it would more closely resemble an ocean than, say, the hottest kayaking spot in your nearest state park. It is ...
