28 pages • 56-minute read
Like a Winding Sheet
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Authorial Context: Ann Petry
Ann Petry was born on October 12, 1911, in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, to a middle-class family. In the late 1930s, Petry held an apprenticeship as a journalist for two Harlem newspapers, The Amsterdam and The People’s Voice. This work exposed her to life in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, which, at the time, was marked by poverty, crime, violence, and economic exploitation. The Harlem setting became highly significant to many of Petry’s works including her novel The Street and multiple short stories in Miss Murial and Other Stories. Petry’s first published short story appeared in The Baltimore Afro-American in 1939, but her literary life changed after the publication of her short story “On Saturday the Siren Sounds at Noon” in the December 1943 edition of Crisis. Crisis was a key literary magazine for African American voices and was the official publication for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). After her short story appeared in Crisis, an editor from the publishing house Houghton-Mifflin asked her to submit a novel for their literary fellowship award, which sparked Petry’s career as a novelist. Petry’s first novel, The Street, was the first novel written by an African American woman to sell over one million copies. Like her many short stories, including “Like A Winding Sheet,” The Street deals with racism-fueled socioeconomic inequalities in Harlem, which Petry was increasingly exposed to throughout her adult life.
Socio-Historical Context: 1940s Harlem
Most of Ann Petry’s work is set in the 1940s in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, or in other areas of New York and Connecticut. In “Like A Winding Sheet,” the two main characters Johnson and Mae are forced to work grueling night shifts in factories that require a long commute from their Harlem home. For Johnson, the work is physically taxing and, at times, his boss is verbally abusive toward him due to his race.
Johnson’s life and work reflect the real conditions of life in New York City for many Black Americans in the 1940s. HarlemAmerica.com describes the history of the area during this time: Following the Harlem Renaissance, a Harlem-centric period of cultural and artistic revival for Black Americans, the 1940s Harlem exploited Black culture and Black neighborhoods, pushing Black residents, who couldn’t benefit from the financial gain others sought in Harlem, into poverty. Although commercial activity after World War II enhanced New York City’s economy, conditions for Black Americans remained dire and highly unequal. Harlem was rife with racial segregation, housing shortages, and difficult conditions for the working class. In 1943, a major riot occurred when a white police officer shot and wounded an African American solider, and the general violence of the area drove out economic activity that had previously been based around the musical entertainment within the Harlem neighborhood. The neighborhood further suffered from racist and segregationist policies when Robert Moses, a lead urban planner for New York City, allocated only one playground to the Harlem area out of 255 that he allocated across the city (Collier, A. “Quick History of Harlem.” Harlem America). These conditions led to the type of cultural and social uncertainty, instability, and violence that Petry frequently engages with in her fiction, and which her characters in “Like A Winding Sheet” must contend with as they seek grueling work in urban factories.
Unlock all 28 pages of this Study Guide
Get in-depth, chapter-by-chapter summaries and analysis from our literary experts.
- Grasp challenging concepts with clear, comprehensive explanations
- Revisit key plot points and ideas without rereading the book
- Share impressive insights in classes and book clubs