Racism, Alienation, and Abuse Theme Analysis

One of the questions Petry is most interested in asking over the course of “Like a Winding Sheet” is that of what causes people behave the way they do. The story's shocking conclusion, in which the protagonist, Johnson, beats his wife, Mae, very likely to death, is in direct contrast to the story's opening. The reader is introduced to Johnson through his loving thoughts of Mae, and when she later annoys him through her reluctance to leave the house, Johnson notes that other men in his position might threaten violence, but that he has no desire to do so. After a day of racial antagonism, however, Johnson returns home exhausted and frustrated. When Mae unwittingly echoes the words and gestures of the abusive forewoman at Johnson's work and a waitress whom he believes discriminated against him, Johnson's anger overwhelms him. In the course of one day, Johnson’s character thus evolves dramatically. His transformation suggests that being racially alienated and dehumanized has detrimental effects on the individual, depriving them of their identity and leading them to commit similar (or worse) abuse against others.

The wording of Johnson's thoughts at the opening of the story is crucial to understanding how deep his discomfort with the idea of violence toward Mae runs. Nonviolence is established not just as a shallow belief, but as Johnson’s intrinsic nature. It is not merely that Johnson doesn't want to beat Mae—Petry makes it clear that “He wasn't made that way.” The use of the word “made” suggests that there is something fundamental to person's a character which isn’t derived from their environment, but is instead entirely innate and instinctual. The word choice could even be interpreted as evoking the divine, implying that Johnson's moral fabric has been created by a higher force (presumably God) in a certain manner. His disinterest in violence is not arbitrary and is unchanging. In other words, it is not a choice; he simply could not act any differently than his nature dictates. The significance of this element of his character is further highlighted by Johnson's noting that “a lot of men might have” handled the situation in a more aggressive manner. Johnson is unconcerned with living up to external, socially-conditioned standards of masculinity—instead, he resolves to follow what he intrinsically feels is right and is content in his individuality.

However, Johnson's secure sense of identity begins to collapse when social interactions devalue him and challenge his individuality. This results in a breakdown of the intrinsic nature that has been established thus far in the story, demonstrating the power of a toxic social environment to break down the individual. One of the functions of the forewoman’s racist tirade directed at Johnson is to humiliate him, but another is to lump him in with other African Americans, as she spits out, “I'm sick of you niggers.” The use of this racial slur is a visceral contrast to Johnson’s nonviolent attitude and it completely dehumanizes him as an individual, hinting at just how powerfully the forewoman’s words will affect him. Whereas Johnson previously “wasn’t made” to beat a woman, his interaction with the forewoman makes it so he merely “could not bring himself to do so.” This subtle shift in word choice implies that his nature has been challenged by the forewoman’s verbal abuse, demonstrating the swift, demoralizing influence that racial discrimination can have on an otherwise peaceful individual. Petry thus suggests that social pressures, specifically racial alienation, have the ability to deprive an individual of even the most fundamental (and positive) parts of their identity. All it takes is for Mae, the person Johnson loves most, to echo the racist comment made by the forewoman to tip him over the edge and make him feel completely deprived of his individuality. The result of his interactions with the forewoman and Mae is that he falls into pattern of socially-ingrained violence (what he previously referred to as the behavior of “a lot of men”). Being racially alienated and lumped into a defamatory category (rather than viewed as an individual with a unique identity) has the power to change Johnson fundamentally and perpetuate abuse of his own, highlighting the destructive and cyclical nature of racially-charged violence.

Through Johnson's collapse of identity, Petry suggests that societal pressures like systemic racism have the power to erase individuality, which in turn leads to alienation and can ultimately perpetuate more abuse. In Petry's view, the devaluation and dehumanization of the individual can effectively destroy them, and even lead them to harm other people.