The Street Study Guide

The Street

The Street by Ann Petry

  • Lutie Johnson , the story's protagonist, is a single black mother who moves away from her family to live on her own in 1940s Harlem. She lives in a building with her son, Bub, and is constantly reading and thinking about Benjamin Franklin, who she considers a hero, and whose work-ethic she tries to emulate.
  • Mrs. Hedges is a madame who lives in Lutie's building. She pays off the police to make sure that she is not caught for running a whore house. She spends her days gazing out of her window and at the people passing on 116th street.
  • Min lives with Jones, the abusive super. She has a cross above her bed, and sees Prophet David about ways she can make Jones a better man.
  • Jones is the super of Lutie's building, who lusts after Lutie, and is a very lonely man. He was previously in the Navy, and he also worked as a night watchman.
  • Junto owns Junto's Bar and Grill. Junto is a term originating in English politics of the 1640s and the early 1700s, that was made famous in America by Benjamin Franklin who founded a club in Philadelphia with the name Junto ( c . 1730), and the Bar and Grill serves as a meeting place for the poor people of Harlem.
  • Bub is Lutie's son. He is young, and dislikes being left alone. He is scared of the dark.

You'll need to sign up to view the entire study guide.

Sign Up Now, It's FREE
Source: Wikipedia, released under the Creative Commons Attributions/Share-Alike License
Filter Your Search Results: