Sunday, April 1, 2012
The Street
I have to start by saying I absolutely love this book. Anne Petry novel starts off with Lutie apartment hunting. Once Lutie buy's the apartment on 116th street she is finally able to get away from her fathers apartment and able to start her new life with her son. One of the most interesting pieces to this novel so far for me was when she slammed her son for shinning shoes on the street. I was alarmed by this at first because Bub was just trying to help his mother make some extra cash so he could support his family. Lutie was thinking, "you're afraid that if he's shining shoes at eight he will be washing windows at sixteen and running an elevator at twenty-one, and go on doing that for the rest of his life. And you're afraid that this street will keep him from finishing high school; that it may do worse than that and get him into some kind of trouble that will land him in reform school because you can't be home to look out for him because you have to work" (69). This quote helped me to see how much Lutie loves her son and how she wants him to live a better life. She does not want him to get sucked up into the same cycle that everyone on 116th street is in. This part of the story made me sad because Lutie feels stuck and she wants to break free from this apartment and street. She wants to perform a job that is not expected for her to complete by the white people. I am really excited to read the rest of the book because I think the Lutie is going to break free from the traditional African American roles into the New Negro Woman.
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I also felt that it was very interesting how Lutie was thinking about Little Henry and how he did not have to sit on the sidewalk and shine shoes. I was appalled at first when Lutie slapped her son. But after seeing her thinking about why she did it, I could understand why she was so upset. Like you said, all Lutie wanted for her son was the best, just like Little Henry has. I am very interested to see where Lutie and Bub's journey will take them throughout the book.
ReplyDeleteThe scene where Lutie strikes her son for shining shoes also stood out to me. I like how you viewed her emotion as pure love for her son because she wants the best for him. This scene is one of many which display Lutie as a “new woman.” She provides for her son in any way she can in hopes that he will be able to stay off the street and eventually hold a respectable job. Lutie is possibly the best example of a new woman in all of the texts we have read because she has more to overcome. Race is a huge issue in this book and as an African American woman, Lutie constantly breaks typical gender roles and racial roles of that time.
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