Down These Mean Streets

“The damn WPA, the damn depression, the damn home relief, the damn poorness, the damn cold, the damn crummy apartments, the damn look on his damn kids, living so damn damned and his not being able to do a damn thing about it.” 

Here, Piri describes the way his father speaks of his embitterment. One of the many traits Piri shares with his father is a frequent unhappiness with the status quo. Neither of them has a contentment with the way things are.

“Pops, I wondered, how come me and you is always on the outs? Is it something we don’t know nothing about? I wonder if it’s something I done, or something I am. Why do I feel so left outta things with you—like Moms is both of you to me.” 

One of the main drivers of Piri’s personality is his discontentment with his relationship with his father. He is always seeking approval from his father, which rarely comes.

“They just grinned at me like a bunch of hungry alley cats that could get to their mouse anytime they wanted. That’s what they made me feel like—a mouse. Not like a smart house mouse but like a white house pet that ain’t got no business in the middle of cat country but don’t know better ‘cause he grew up thinking he was a cat.” 

Here, we see a rare instance of Piri dropping his bravado and displaying some vulnerability. He uses metaphorical language that portrays him as a naive victim of the Italian-American boys in his neighborhood. In this context, Piri also seems to be making a reference to his confusion over race. He thought he was a cat (white person), but is really a mouse (black person). Piri’s racial confusion is further displayed by the fact that he calls himself a white mouse, i.e., a white black person.