The Street

Title: The Street

Author: Ann Petry

Genre: fiction

"The Street" is about Lutie Johnson, an African American woman who is going through a lot. Her husband can't find a job to pay for all the living necessities that a family needs. Lutie knows that things will get bad if she doesn't find a job soon, and she needs the money to provide a living for her son Bub. Lutie eventually finds a job in Connecticut but faces the heartbreak of being unable to see her son, Bub. She also feels they are a wall between her and the family because they view her as an inferior. However, they treat her very well. As she struggles with the job, she also struggles with family; for example, her father, Pops, who is a bootlegger and alcoholic, informs her with a letter that her husband is having an affair with another woman. Lutie leaves contact and travels straight to New York to see whether it is accurate and, indeed, her husband is having an affair with another woman. Because of this, lutie leaves him to find a new home for her and Bub, and she finds an affordable apartment in Harlem. Even though their apartment is cramped and dirty, and the walls are paper thin, they are happy it's still affordable. In Harlem, she faces numerous challenges, such as gang violence, drug trafficking, sexism, and racism, and still struggling to find employment.

As Lutie struggles to survive during her days, she goes into a bar to get a drink. The bar is called "The Junto," and it was named after the white man who owned almost everything throughout Harlem. She has heard about him and his bad reputation. One night, she strikes up a conversation with Boots Smith, a prominent local musician, who offers her a chance to sing with his band. Lutie sees this as a potential way out of her dead-end life, though she knows Boots is probably not a person to be trusted based on his association with Junto. She still does it because it allows her to turn her life around. When she succeeds at the auditions, she thinks that her life will turn around, not knowing that Junto, who has had an interest in her after first laying eyes on her plans to keep her in desperate need of his financial assistance, orders Boots not to pay her the money for her singing. Lutie immediately quits.

Junto still wouldn't give up, so he devises a plan to punish Lutie for her continued refusal of his help and money. So he engages Bub, takes advantage of his innocence, and tells him to break into mailboxes around Harlem; when the police start an investigation to find out who did it, he tells the police that Bub did it, and they take him to a juvenile hall. Lutie blames herself for her recent absence from Bub's life and comes up with two hundred dollars to pay a lawyer to help free Bub. So she goes to Boots for help, and he tells Junto. Boots later tells her to meet him at his apartment. When she arrives, she finds out that they would only give her the money if she sleeps with both of them, hearing this she says no, and when Junto eventually leaves, Boots tries to force himself onto her, and she fights back and, in the process, she beats him to death with a candlestick. Fleeing the building, Lutie knows that she must leave New York immediately to avoid arrest. She goes on a train to Chicago, convincing herself that Bub will be better off without her. As she leaves, she blames the street itself for limiting her options and eventually destroying her life.

I liked the book because Ann Petry wrote it very well and was very descriptive. There were a lot of moral lessons from the book, and some include: Don't lose yourself and your morals because of money; money is the root of all evil. This book was compelling, showing the struggle of black women not just in Harlem but Black women all over the world and what they have to do to live a peaceful life. If you read this book and liked it, you should try and read these:

Harriet Tubman By Ann Petry

Native Son by Richard Wright

Cane by Jean Toomer

If you were in Luties shoes would you have killed Boots Smith?

• 0%Yes, would have
• 0%No, I wouldn't have