The Street- Emily Armstrong

“The Street” captivated me early on as its main character Lutie Johnson seems to become obsessed with what makes up the idea of the American dream. This attitude is mostly seen when she goes to work for the white family and feels that their style of living was exceedingly more glamorous then her own. A striking moment when she realizes the consequences, yet advantages, that great wealth could bring is when Mr. Chandler’s brother killed himself. Her unease of the family had been building up until this moment as she took note of Mr. Chandler’s drinking and Mrs. Chandler’s aversion to her son and wandering attentions to men other than her husband. Once the suicide occurs Petry writes, “she didn’t lose her belief in the desirability of having money, though she saw that mere possession of it wouldn’t necessarily guarantee happiness. What was more important, she learned that when one had money there were certain unpleasant things one could avoid- even things like a suicide in the family” (Petry 49). This passage brings power to the idea of money that Lutie hadn’t imagined before. Prior to this experience Lutie realized that money could make you comfortable in your way of living, could make the worries of providing for a family disappear, yet it’s clear its influence went deeper than even this. She is in wonder of the way that money can cover up the bad in a family’s life and make everything seem good and whole. She wanted something like this to be possible in her own life.