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The Street Ann Petry Analysis

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Society is as cruel as a violent storm sweeping over a city and destroying everything in its path. Author, Ann Petry, in the excerpt of The Street, illustrates a raging storm in which Lutie Johnson is attempting to weather. Petry's purpose is to show how Johnson was able to overcome the storm in order to reveal how she overcame her harsh struggles with society. She adopts a powerful tone in order to relate the feeling of determination Johnson has towards the storm. Through personification, similes, and selection of detail, Petry conveys to the audience that Lutie Johnson has a complicated relationship with the ruthless urban city. Petry begins the excerpt by illustrating the harsh effects the wind has on the town. The narrator reveals”[the wind] drove most of the people off the street…except for a few hurried pedestrians who bent double in an effort to offer the least possible exposed surface to its violent assault.” The speaker also recounts “it did everything it could to discourage the people walking along the street.” Petry uses violent personification to show how aggressive the wind is in order to indirectly characterize the city as a difficult place to live. The threatening figurative language used to describe the town allows the audience to understand how challenging the city is to live in. …show more content…
The narrator recalls “she shivered as the cold fingers of the wind touched the back of her neck.” The speaker also reveals “[the wind] even blew her eyelashes away from her eyes so that her eyeballs were bathed in a rush if coldness.” The figurative language used shows how the wind is teasing Johnson in order to display how the city is trying to break her down. Petry’s use of eerie personification and selection of detail reveals to the audience that although Miss Johnson is having a difficult time in the city she is going to persevere and not back

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