Figurative Language In Ann Petry's The Street

In this excerpt from Ann Petry's The Street, the wind is the central antagonist. The narrator efficiently utilizes a third-person omniscient narrator to relay to the reader the bitterness of the cold, along with the adamant determination of Lutie Johnson. Through the use of chillingly descriptive imagery, and figurative language including resplendent personification, the narrator successfully conveys the perilous nature of the cold to enhance Lutie Johnson's temporal and sensory experiences.

Imagery is certainly the most central literary device in this excerpt, as it gives the reader an accurate sense of the brutal cold that the protagonist has to endure in her search for a home. The omnipotence and omnipresence of the "Cold November Wind"
A simile can be found on line 33: "…and the metal had slowly rusted, making a dark red stain like blood." Personification plays a vital role in this excerpt. In this passage, the cold November wind is personified as an abusive, forceful man who does as he pleases with an obdurate disregard of the emotions and feelings of those subject to his actions and influences. The first example within the passage that supports this assertion can be found in line 5, when the wind's merciless barrage is portrayed by the narrator as a "violent assault." Petry takes her calamitous description of the wind a step further in lines 19-20. The wind is portrayed as insensitive as it " grabs..hats, pries scarves from around..necks, sticks its fingers inside..coat collars, and blows coats away from…bodies." The wind violates Lutie Johnson without even a bit of respect; as its icy, death-like fingers "touched the back of her neck, exposed the sides of her head." (lines 23-24). At this point in the excerpt, the wind is essentially a sexual predator; preying on the unwilling and innocent victims within its path. Petry's use of personification establishes Lutie Johnson's dogged will and refusal to settle for anything less than she