Like a Winding Sheet

“Like A Winding Sheet” is a short story by African American writer Ann Petry, originally published in 1945 and included in the 1946 collection of Best American Short Stories. Like many of Petry’s novels and short stories, “Like A Winding Sheet” examines how racism within American society impacts the personal lives of working-class African American people. In the story, Petry is especially interested in how racism is an inescapable part of life in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood, and how that dynamic informs and changes the gender dynamics between the two main characters, Johnson and Mae. The story is told from the perspective of a third-person narrator. However, the narrator is only privy to Johnson’s inner thoughts, meaning the story revolves largely around Johnson’s emotions, reactions, and circumstances. As the narrative explores the grueling work conditions of 1940s New York City, Johnson struggles with conflicts between his intentions and his emotions, which escalate in response to the racial, socioeconomic, and gendered power dynamics of the story.

This guide refers to the edition of the story in the collected Miss Murial and Other Stories, published by Dafina Books in 2008.

Content Warning: This guide discusses racism and domestic violence and quotes and obscures the author’s use of the n-word.

One afternoon, Johnson wakes up later than intended. He notices that his wife, Mae, is already awake and getting ready for work, and Johnson realizes that he also needs to get up to avoid being late. He feels aches and pains in his legs from the grueling physical labor of the previous night’s shift, and he feels unable to rise as a result. As he lies in bed, Mae laughs at the way that Johnson is twisted up in the bedsheets, saying that he looks like a “huckleberry in a winding sheet”—a sheet in which a corpse is wrapped (Paragraph 8). Johnson enjoys the sound of her giggle. Soon, he gets out of bed and rushes through breakfast. Just as Johnson and Mae are headed out the door, Mae notices that it’s Friday the 13th. She frets about going to work and wonders whether she should just stay home, but after 15 minutes, Johnson convinces Mae to leave. As they go to work, Johnson muses over the fact that it is in his nature to treat Mae gently even when they disagree, unlike many other men who would have shouted or struck her out of frustration.

Johnson’s commute is slowed by his disagreement with Mae and, when he finally arrives at work, by the day-shift workers who crowd the factory on their way home. Finally, Johnson punches into his night shift, but his legs begin to ache as soon as he starts his work, which involves pushing a cart around the factory for 10 hours straight. Mrs. Scott, the factory foreman, yells at Johnson about his lateness as he pushes the cart. When Johnson tries to explain the soreness in his legs, Mrs. Scott uses racist slurs toward him, evoking Johnson’s rage. Johnson clenches his fists and feels an overwhelming urge to punch Mrs. Scott in the face, before he notices the red lipstick across her mouth, which reminds Johnson that she is a woman. Similar to his thoughts from earlier in the day, Johnson realizes that he can’t hit a woman, and he begins to push his cart again. As he retreats from Mrs. Scott, he thinks about how satisfying it would have been to strike her, and he remembers the tingly sensation in his fists just before he walked away. Johnson continues to mull over the thought of hitting Mrs. Scott as his night shift drags on.

Finally, the shift ends. Johnson is frustrated at the fact that he must wait an extra 15 minutes to pick up his pay before beginning the commute home. After he collects his payment, Johnson decides to avoid the rush of commuters on the long train back to Harlem. He goes into an inviting restaurant where other workers line up to buy coffee. Johnson notices how the coffee seems to erase the fatigue from the night workers’ faces and how people smile and talk once they take their first sip. He imagines in detail what the first sip of coffee will be like and how the froth will feel against his lips. His daydream is interrupted, however, when he reaches the front of the line and asks for a cup. The girl working responds that there won’t be coffee for a while. At this, Johnson feels stunned, then infuriated. His fists clench and the tingling sensation in his hands returns in the same way that it did when he wanted to strike Mrs. Scott. In his fury, he imagines striking the girl violently in the face. Johnson’s fury is heightened by his assumption that the girl refused him coffee because he is Black. However, as Johnson angrily rushes out of the restaurant, he doesn’t see that the girl had truly run out of coffee, as she turns away from the rest of the line to begin to brew another batch. Johnson seethes in anger on the subway home.

When Johnson gets home, Mae is already there. He immediately becomes annoyed with her, first for her loud gum chewing, then for the way that she plays with her hair. Johnson becomes furious when Mae tells him to get off the chair where she has slung her overalls, as she needs to wear them to work again tomorrow. Mae tries to make amends with Johnson by lightening her tone and making a joke. As she makes the joke, she uses the same racist slur toward Johnson that Mrs. Scott had used earlier in the factory, although Mae intends to be endearing. Very quickly, however, Johnson descends into rage and punches her hard in the face. He continues to strike her so violently that her red lipstick spreads all over her face. As he strikes her, Johnson is aware of his own behavior and feels appalled at himself. However, he feels that he has lost all control of his body and hands and seemingly cannot stop striking her. Johnson makes a mental comparison: It is as if he is caught in a winding sheet, enmeshed in something without any control over himself. Even as he makes this comparison, he continues to hit her again and again.