The Street Petry Analysis

The urban setting of Petry’s, “The Street” was clearly not the home of Lutie Johnson. Petry conveys this relationship through the use of imagery, personification, detail, and figurative language. Lutie is taken back by the wind but perseveres in order to reach her goal of reading the sign. The wind’s invasiveness serves to “discourage the people walking along the street” but she will not give in. By targeting the reader’s feelings of irritation, Petry proposes that discouragement is only as strong as one lets it be. Imagery is used in “The Street” to describe the town that Lutie has seemingly just arrived in. Petry talks about the white paint and the originality of the sign just before mentioning the bare metal and rust that made “a dark red stain like blood”. Comparing the two types of images, the reader can …show more content…
Petry uses the wind from the beginning to the end of the piece. She personifies the wind to be grabbing, sucking, sticking its fingers places, eating, and discouraging. The wind in the piece is described as being very aggressive and aggravating. Lutie could be entering this urban setting and it may seem aggressive and a little frustrating to her because it is all new. Petry states that the wind’s main goal is to discourage people, but this is the opposite of its effects on Lutie, who is not discouraged but rather encouraged and motivated to read the old rusty sign. This shows that Lutie is not going to let a new place or new struggles keep her from reaching her goals. The wind in “The Street” can relate to any one person. It can be a boss, parents, teachers, or simply negative people. These people will always try to blow others in a certain direction, just as the wind is trying to do to Lutie, but it will only be successful if one lets it be. Petry’s goal in the piece is to connect Lutie to her surroundings while connecting the reader to their’s at the same

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