HARLEM AS A METAPHOR IN ANN PETRY’S ‘THE STREET’

The Harlem Renaissance, a cultural movement which brought out the literary interest of many black American writers is the theme behind many novels written in the period 1920-1935. This study aims at bringing out the allegory of Harlem in Ann Petry’s novel The Street. It also aims at highlighting the author’s views on Harlem and how the author has used her proficiencies in the novel to convey her views on life in Harlem. Petry uses a powerful story line to put in her views about Harlem and the story line clearly explains the fate of people living in Harlem due to social and cultural issues of the place.