Literary Satire In Eudora Welty's The Petrified Man

Literary satire is a medium through which challenging issues can be represented, criticized, and reflected upon. In Toni Bambara’s “The Lesson” and Eudora Welty’s “The Petrified Man” the ill workings and harsh realities of society are brought to light in descriptive figurative language and dramatic dialogue. Perhaps the challenge these short works of fiction embark upon, is to make the audience powerfully and painfully aware of the fault within the characters and the societies in which they inhabit. In Bambara’s “The Lesson,” that character is a young girl who has never heard of the affluent toy store FAO Schwartz and resents an altruistic neighbor, Miss Moore, who has made it her own personal endeavor to “take responsibility for the young

ones’ education” (p. 69). Likewise, in Eudora Welty’s “The Petrified Man,” the gossip filled environment of a hair salon reveals and reinforces the jealous nature of humanity while also elaborating the scorn of social inequality.
Throughout Eudora Welty’s “The Petrified Man,” there exhibits a recurrent motif of human jealousy: “And my magazine, and right next door to my beauty parlor.

I cried all night, but Fred said it wasn’t a bit of use and to go to sleep, because the whole thing was just a sort of coincidence—you know: can’t do nothin’ about it” ( ). In the aforementioned line, Leota, a beautician laments her apparent misfortune at not recognizing and earning reward money for a rapist in a nearby freak show. In an absolute display of jealousy, Leota transitions from an stance of admiration of her new ward, Mrs. Pike, to loathing. It is this attitude of disdain that permeates throughout the entirety of this short text. We see this attitude exhibited in Mrs. Fletcher, the patron who has a tense, sometimes friendly, but more often than not curt banter with the beautician. She chastises, ‘“What gall!…Mrs. Pike!,’” upon learning about Mrs. Pike’s insight regarding her pregnancy. A few lines down and Mrs. Fletcher further expresses her attitude of distaste, this time aiming at the nearby freak show that has inhabited the town and the ladies’ conversation: “‘No, I despise freaks,’ declared Mrs. Fletcher” ( ). Again, it appears that jealousy and bitterness informs the tone of the dialogue and helps to further characterize the unappealing and rather appalling character of these

women.
In terms of satirical elements, author Eudora Welty employs verbal irony and wit through an overarching dramatic dialogue between the two woman, Leota and Mrs. Fletcher. The writer vividly juxtaposes the beautician against her patron, elaborating on the differences in social standing through a description of their marriages:
“‘I met Mr. Fletcher, or rather he met me, in a rental library,’ said Mrs. Fletcher with dignity, as she watched the net come down over her head…‘Honey, me an’ Fred, we met in a rumble seat eight months ago and we was practically on what you might call the way to the altar inside of half an hour,’ said Leota…” ( ).
Not only does Welty bring the differences between the two ladies social classes to the forefront but also the nuances in their outlooks on marriages. Likewise, the apparent lower social stature of Leota serves, a particular sore point noted through her obsession with a former love interested who chose another woman for money and her sadness over missing the opportunity for the reward money, is accentuated in the chastising final line delivered by Mrs. Pike’s wishful son, Billy Boy, “‘If you’re so smart, why ain’t you rich?’” ( ).
The resentful emotions that Leota is grappling with in regards to her own social stature are without a doubt complex and difficult for one to properly understand and deal with. It is these same emotions and challenges that become the main target in Toni Cade Bambara’s “The Lesson.” In this instance, the individual dealing with social inequality is a young female narrator, Sylvia. Bambara appropriately titles this work “The Lesson,” a double entendre that points to not only Miss Moore’ attempt to educate the children about their socio-economic standing but also to the harsh reality that this lesson imposes upon the young children, particularly the narrator. In a similar fashion to Welty, verbal irony in the form of sarcasm is employed to bring to light the character’s difficult circumstance. An example of this occurs on page 72, when Q.T. and flyboy discuss the prices they encounter at FAO Schwartz:
“‘Must be rich people shop here,’ say Q.T. ‘You’re a very bright boy,’ says flyboy. ‘What was your first clue?’ And he rap him on the head with the back of his knuckles, since Q.T. the only one he could get away with” (Bambara).
Likewise, there is an undercurrent of sarcastic interactions without “The Lesson,” that reflect the attitudes of dissatisfaction that permeates the characters. Ultimately, however, it is this dis-satisfaction that is hard to rectify, particularly for Sylvia. In the end, she is made uncomfortable by the whole experience and Miss Moore’s questioning, which is described in fashion akin to interrogation:
“Miss Moore is beside herself and I am disgusted with Sugar’s treachery. So I stand on her foot one more time to see if she’ll shove me. She shuts up, and Miss Moore looks at me, sorrowfully I’m thinkin. And somethin weird is going on, I can feel it in my chest” (Bambara 74).
The key insight into Sylvia’s frame of mind, “Sorrowfully I’m thinkin” shows the complexity and gravitas of the situation for the young girl. In a not so surprising manner, Sylvia scoffs off Miss Moore’s attempts at further questioning and flights from the situation with Sugar. Clearly, this is not something that Sylvia is able to understand yet or, perhaps even more evidenced, ready to deal with. At last, we are left with the verbal rebellion of a young girl who is not going to accept anyone’s view of her life or consider her less than, “But ain’t nobody gonna beat me at nuthin” ( ). This last line shows a level of defiance and dis-satisfaction within Sylvia that can only be inferred will grown more intensely as time goes on.
In comparing these two short satirical works, it is evidenced that they are both dealing with complex social problems as well as the human emotions of jealousy and defiance. One interesting area of conversion for these two pieces is their utilization of language, particularly dialectic and colloquial vernacular. Rather than aiming to utilize a refined and austere coherence to the character’s dialogues and internal monologues, both authors utilize a specific voice that informs the humorous elements as well as the jarring realities of their characters:
“So this one day Miss Moore rounds us all up at the mailbox and it’s prudee hot and she’s knocking herself out about arithmetic. And school suppose to let up in summer I heard, but she don’t never let up. An the starch in my pinafore scratching the shit outta me and I’m hating this nappy-head bitch and her goddam college degree” (Bambara 69).
Everything about Sylvia’s language exhibits her inability to connect with Miss Moore and her displeasure at the circumstances that Miss Moore has placed her in. Sylvia’s language is intimate to her emotions in a way that is vulgar and not necessarily respectful to a broader audience. Moreover, Bambara emphasizes the personal experience of his character through her blunt thoughts. A satirical effect that keys the audience into Sylvia’s frame of mind. It’s humorous how much Sylvia does not want to be here, but also incredibly sad that she cannot comprehend Miss Moore’s honest attempts to help her, support her, and ultimately see her go further in life. Likewise, we see personal language extensively in the dialogue between Leota and Mrs. Fletcher:
“‘Huh! If I ever ast Fred’s advice we’d be floatin’ down the Yazoo River on a houseboat or somethin’ by this time,’ said Leota. ‘I’m sick of Fred. I told him to go over to Vicksburg’…‘Well! How’s Mrs. Pike, your attractive new friend with the sharp eyes who spreads it around town that perfect strangers are pregnant?’ she asked in a sweetened tone” ( ).
In the first piece, before the ellipses, we have Leota’s particularly mix of contractions and shorten words that displays her fast and almost flippant regard for the rules of standard american English. This is contrasted with Mrs. Fletcher’s austere and biting jab at Mrs. Pike which does not utilize any contractions or shorten words and is described as having a “sweetened tone” ( ). Similar to Bambara, we can see how the juxtaposition of Leota to Mrs. Fletcher creates a humorous characterization that also illuminates the stark social differences between these two ladies. Yet, it is important note the unification Welty also creates for them in their negative tones and jealous natures. It’s no surprise that these two ladies unite to beat Billy Boy in the end.
In summation, Welty and Bambara are wonderful exemplars of the satirical form through their skillful utility of humor, particularly verbal irony and colloquial language, to target social inequalities and the human psychological challenges in dealing with their issues.