The Street By Ann Petry: Summary

The third person omniscient point of view in The Street by Ann Petry helps show Lutie Johnson’s feeling of victimization. A parasitic relation is revealed between herself and the setting. Lutie Johnson’s perception and relationship with the urban environment is established through extremely vivid imagery and personification. Through personification, we see the parasitic relationship between Lutie Johnson and the urban setting. The main source of this personification is linked with the wind, symbolizing the life of the city. It is described as living thing, shaping the city. The wind in the street is representative of the all the unpleasant elements of a life in the city—depicting this urban atmosphere. The wind becomes an unavoidable grievance to all city goers, “it did everything it could

The narrator describes specifically how the wind invades her personal space, “as the cold fingers of the wind touched the back of her neck…bathed in a rush of coldness.” By adding this, it shows how she must constantly deal with these unpleasant aspects, having to find strength within herself to make it in an urban setting. The wind whipping the sign back and forth is the city fighting Lutie, keeping her from finding the shelter she needs. It is ironic that wind is an aspect of nature, and the narrator uses it to describe the torment of the city. However, the narrator does this to emphasize lively facade that many city’s have, when in reality, it is anything but high spirited. Overall, the personification of the wind portrays this parasitic relationship. The imagery throughout the selection emphasizes the negative characteristics of the city, enlightening us of Lutie Johnson’s perspective. This imagery makes the city seem suffocating. It almost seems inessential as it is so meticulously detailed, describing the “announcements of dances…heavy waxed paper…chicken bones and pork-chop bones.” This could