Petrified Man

“[Y]ou know what I heard in here yestiddy, one of Thelma’s ladies was settin’ over yonder in Thelma’s booth gittin’ a machineless, and I don’t mean to insist or insinuate or anything, Mrs. Fletcher, but Thelma’s lady just happ’med to throw out—I forgotten what she was talkin’ about at the time—that you was p-r-e-g., and lots of times that’ll make your hair do awful funny, fall out and God knows what all.” 

Welty uses this exchange to emphasize Leota’s dialect, an indirect but strong characterization of her southern identity. In this moment, Leota introduces the story’s first conflict, that someone is gossiping about Mrs. Fletcher being pregnant. Leota delivers this news with a polite casualness, and only later does she admit that this entire story was a lie.

“‘All I know is, whoever it is’ll be sorry some day. Why, I just barely knew it myself!’ cried Mrs. Fletcher. ‘Just let her wait!’”

Mrs. Fletcher’s intense emotional response to the rumor about her pregnancy shows just how hypocritical the women’s gossiping nature is. When the gossip becomes personal, it is suddenly an unacceptable invasion of privacy and warrants revenge.

“Why? What’re you gonna do to her?”

Billy Boy, Mrs. Pike’s toddler, interjects with curiosity to ask what Mrs. Fletcher’s plan for revenge entails. His presence reveals that this conversation is not as private as Mrs. Fletcher first believed, but even his questions affirm the gossipy atmosphere and thirst for knowledge.

“‘Well! I’m almost tempted not to have this one,’ said Mrs. Fletcher. ‘That Mrs. Hutchinson! Just looks straight through you when she sees you on the street and then spits at you behind your back.’” 

Mrs. Fletcher admits that she is considering terminating the pregnancy but remains preoccupied with the assumption that Mrs. Hutchinson is gossiping about her. Not only is Mrs. Fletcher’s assumption incorrect, but also her assessment of Mrs. Hutchinson exemplifies the hypocritical boundary of acceptable and unacceptable gossip.

“‘Mr. Fletcher can’t do a thing with me.’

‘He can’t!’ Leota winked at herself in the mirror.”

The women of the story characterize themselves as fiercely independent from their husbands, despite the gendered expectations and obligations of the late 1930s in the American South. In the safety of the salon, they can openly defy these expectations, and the women express a sense of support and camaraderie toward each other, even among the building tension from the gossip.

“Well, now, honey, I just wanted you to know—I habm’t told any of my ladies and I ain’t goin’ to tell ’em—even that you’re losin’ your hair.” 

Leota tries to preemptively save face and regain trust by assuring Mrs. Fletcher that she has not and will not share the news of her pregnancy, but in this “den” of gossip, the promise is an empty one, given how easily Leota lied to Mrs. Fletcher minutes ago.

“I reckon I might as well tell you. It wasn’t any more Thelma’s lady tole me you was pregnant than a bat. […] It was Mrs. Pike.” 

Leota’s attempt to portray Mrs. Pike favorably was risking innocent neighbors’ reputations, so she finally admits that it was Mrs. Pike that assumed Mrs. Fletcher was pregnant. While this confirms Mrs. Pike’s “sharp eye,” it also highlights how quick the women of this town are to talk about one another. These lines emphasize Leota’s dialect and idiomatic way of speaking, one of the main ways Welty characterizes Leota.

“Well, these pygmies are a kind of dark brown, Mrs. Fletcher. Not bad lookin’ for what they are, you know.” 

In a sudden change of topic, Leota attempts to distract Mrs. Fletcher from the drama of Mrs. Pike by telling her about the freak show next door. The “pygmies” could be referring to people belonging to the African Pygmy tribe or simply to people of smaller stature. Regardless, Leota’s description is objectifying and potentially racist, further demonstrating her shallow personality.

“He’s turning into stone. How’d you like to be married to a guy like that? All he can do, he can move his head just a quarter of an inch. A course he looks just terrible.” 

While describing the Petrified Man from the freak show, Leota again emphasizes appearance. The content of the women’s dialogue shows just how much they prioritize looks, characterizing them as shallow and vain. The flippant way in which they discuss the man’s suitability as a husband is a dark situational irony, as they later find out he is a suspected rapist.

“She told her Mr. Pike was as true to her as he could be and besides, would come into some money.” 

Lady Evangeline, the fortune teller at the freak show, foreshadows the reward money that the Pikes will later claim.

“‘I bet she needs one,’ said Mrs. Fletcher, letting the swing-door fly back against Leota. ‘Oh, pardon me.’”

Frustrated with Leota and Mrs. Pike, Mrs. Fletcher becomes passive-aggressive, first insulting Mrs. Pike’s appearance (whom she’s never met) and then being insincerely apologetic to Leota when she purposely lets the door hit Leota. This behavior suggests that even in moments of anger, societal expectations of the 1930s American South dictated that women remain polite rather than expressing their negative emotions directly, to keep up a well-mannered appearance.

“Know where he was? […] Nowhere else but in that freak show! I saw him just as plain as Mrs. Pike. He was the petrified man!” 

Leota reveals Petrie’s identity as the Petrified Man, a persona he took on to evade arrest. His embellished appearance and false identity in the freak show are a stark juxtaposition to the way the women of the story cultivate their appearance at the salon to influence the way others in society perceive them.

“I guess those women didn’t have the faintest notion at the time they’d be worth a hundred an’ twenty-five bucks apiece some day to Mrs. Pike.” 

Leota and Mrs. Fletcher express some horror at the identity of the Petrified Man but are mostly preoccupied with their judgment of Mrs. Pike. They express little sympathy for the rape victims, instead focusing on their financial “worth” to Mrs. Pike, further emphasizing their own shallowness.