Petrified Man

Welty sets the story in a salon, a place dedicated to altering the clients’ appearances and “gratifying” their desire for physical attractiveness. Attractiveness and desirability are of utmost concern, and each vapid conversation ultimately ends with an assessment of someone’s appearance. For the women of this Mississippi town, a beautifully cultivated appearance indicates a respectable life. Mrs. Montjoy goes so far as to get her hair done while in active labor, because she “just wanted to look pretty while she was havin’ her baby” (7). Even during a normal appointment, the women subject themselves to painful treatments like harsh chemicals that burn their scalps (Mrs. Fletcher does this weekly), but they consider the pain and discomfort the worthy price of physical attractiveness.

The women’s outer beauty, however, is not reflected in their personalities. Welty characterizes them as shallow and vain, and the women’s gossip only reinforces their judgmental and spiteful natures. Leota and Mrs. Fletcher spend the duration of the story staring at their reflections in the salon’s mirror, but at no point do they take the opportunity to contemplate their inner flaws. Nor do they seem to see each other in any real way.