The American Dreamer

When I first started reading The Street I immediately thought of environmental impacts on characters. Is Lutie able to escape the "product of your environment" argument with her ambitions for the American Dream? This novel reminds me so much of Richard Wright's Native Son, one of my favorite novels. Lutie tries to bring Bub up out of the life she feels white people want for him, like all other young black males. This novel already brings up questions of Nature vs. Nurture, the realities of the American Dream, and the options open to women, especially black women, during this time and even today.