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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 6 page essay that discusses how Ann Petry in her novel The Street pictures one woman's struggle against the racist society of the New York in the 1940s. The writer argues that the resistance of the protagonist against the white establishment is particularly clear when contrasted against the actions of other characters. No additional sources cited.
Page Count:
6 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khpetry.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
supporting this thesis will depend largely on how one defines "morality." Lutie, more than any other character introduced in the narrative as living on Harlems 116th Street, subscribes to
conventional morality. She tries to instill in her son Bub a sense of purpose and to keep him from the licentiousness that makes up much of his environment. However, Lutie
does resist and reinscribe how the white hegemony defines the role of black people in mainstream white society. How white society regarded African American during the 1940s can be regarded
as part of their "morality" from a societal perceptive. That Lutie resists the white concept of blacks is particularly clear when Luties character is contrasted against that of Mrs. Hedges.
In the first chapters of the narrative, Petry reveals episodes from Luties past that explain her decision to move to 116th Street. Prior to the break up of her
marriage to Jim Johnson, Lutie worked as a domestic servant for the Chandler family. It is while Lutie is working for the Chandlers that she absorbs the essence of
the American Dream, which posits that anyone can be financially successful if they work hard enough. She is particularly intrigued by the Pizzini family, Italian immigrants who had done well
financially running a vegetable store. Lutie ponder their situation, "Who would have thought that this old Italian couple...would be living in a fine house in a fine neighborhood?" (33). Petry
writes that after a year of hearing the Chandlers talk, she "absorbed some of the same spirit. The belief that anybody could be rich if he wanted to and worked
hard enough and figured it out carefully enough" (43). Although Luties job brings much needed income into her family, her job keeps her away from her own home. She returns
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