Petrified Man

In combination with the characters’ southern dialect, the dialogue provides an accurate and believable glimpse of a mundane moment in 1930s Mississippi. Nearly the entire story takes place within Leota and Mrs. Fletcher’s dialogue, the sole source of plot movement. The dialogue within the confines of the salon “den” creates a sense of intimacy between the two women and establishes the salon as a space where curiosity can be given its “freedom” (1). All exposition is revealed through their conversations, and they both take each other’s word as fact. While this implies trust between the women, the narrator does not provide any other corroborating information, creating a completely subjective perception of events and other characters. It is through these subjective accounts that Leota reveals both conflicts: the rumor about Mrs. Fletcher’s pregnancy and the identity of the Petrified Man.

Welty uses the subject matter and manner of speaking to indirectly but efficiently characterize the women as self-absorbed. The tone the women use with each other is flippant, matching the superficial content of their gossip, but it also captures their highly emotional reactions to inconsequential news. These reactions convey the true feelings of the women, in a time and place where women were expected to remain affable and polite. The dialogue allows Leota and Mrs. Fletcher (and Thelma, briefly) to engage in the conflict brought about by their gossip, and though that gossip is initially a source of tension between the two women, it ultimately strengthens their rapport and trust, which is the dual nature of gossip in this small town—simultaneously dividing and uniting those who participate in it.