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thejt33 's review for:
The Street
by Ann Petry
Since reading became my job, it's become increasingly rare that I get to read a book I actually like. This book, if not in my top 10 (haven't decided yet) at least gets an honorable mention. While the book does feel long (a potential strike against it) I never felt disengaged from it. The story is such a mundane premise that Petry just zooms in on almost fractally, gradually revealing more and more complexity until it climaxes in an ending that is as sudden and abrupt as it is fitting and conclusive. I really appreciate how Petry switches between the perspectives of these interconnected characters; it was really giving me Mrs. Dalloway vibes in that way, although the stakes here are so much higher and in that way the novel is arguably superior. The style really fits into a modernist aesthetic in a way that Houston A. Baker Jr. might call "mastery of forms," but at the same time the novel is also fitting into these larger conversations around race that are happening in the tradition of African American literature. Geoffrey Jacques and many others have pointed out how 1) Black and white modernist style existed in a symbiotic relationship rather than one copying the other, and 2) white modernism (in problematic ways) often relies on a notion of a racialized/primitivized other to mark itself as "high," which I only mention to clarify that I'm not saying that I think Petry is aping modernist style but rather decrying the neglect that this novel gets in discussions of modernism (just compare how brief the Wikipedia page is for The Street vs. Mrs. Dalloway.
Returning to how this novel fits within an African American literary tradition, I think it represents a move that takes place as Afam lit shifts from realism to modernism, which is that we see a lot less faith placed in a race leader figure. Instead, what becomes emphasized is that systems do not work. Here, the critique of the system is literally baked into the title, as Petry emphasizes not only that "the street" is responsible for everything that goes wrong, but that the street is really any street where they pack in poor and disproportionately Black bodies (although Petry does acknowledge the presence of some whit people, particularly in the form of immigrants). But Petry also puts a lot more nuance into her commentary (which I will only gesture to rather than drag this review on ad infinitum). Yes, Petry is critical of racial capitalism, but she really humanizes the story by showing how this American ideology of shame around poverty affects the psyche. However, her biggest contribution may be the absolutely clear way she lays out one simple thing: white people put Black people into difficult situations, then punish them when they make the "wrong" decision (white people decide what is right and wrong).
Returning to how this novel fits within an African American literary tradition, I think it represents a move that takes place as Afam lit shifts from realism to modernism, which is that we see a lot less faith placed in a race leader figure. Instead, what becomes emphasized is that systems do not work. Here, the critique of the system is literally baked into the title, as Petry emphasizes not only that "the street" is responsible for everything that goes wrong, but that the street is really any street where they pack in poor and disproportionately Black bodies (although Petry does acknowledge the presence of some whit people, particularly in the form of immigrants). But Petry also puts a lot more nuance into her commentary (which I will only gesture to rather than drag this review on ad infinitum). Yes, Petry is critical of racial capitalism, but she really humanizes the story by showing how this American ideology of shame around poverty affects the psyche. However, her biggest contribution may be the absolutely clear way she lays out one simple thing: white people put Black people into difficult situations, then punish them when they make the "wrong" decision (white people decide what is right and wrong).