The Street - Meagan Niles

One section that stood out to me in the reading this week was when Min went to see the root doctor in chapter five. The particular passage I noticed was, “Then he shook hands with her and she thought talking to him had been the most satisfying experience she had ever known… The satisfaction she felt was from the quiet way he had listened to her, giving her all of his attention. No one had ever done that before,” (136). I found it sad to hear that Min considered this meeting the “most satisfying experience she had ever known.” This led me to believe that there had never been a man in her life that gave her any respect. This passage also helped me understand her relationship with Jones a little bit better. In the previous chapter, we learn that Jones asked Min to move in because he was very lonely and loved to listen to her talk. It is possible that Min has become dependent on Jones because she feels that he listens to her. This might not be in the same way the root doctor listened to Min, but similar enough to make Min happy. The fact that she has someone to talk to in Jones could be another reason why she feels so threatened by his infatuation with Lutie. Not only will she be out on the street, but she will also be alone with no one to talk to. Loneliness seems to play a large role in the lives of several characters in The Street.