Ann Petry was born in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. She is white and was living in a neighbourhood where the majority of the people were black. Anyhow, Ann Petry when through her childhood without any prejudices against racial difference. It was only later that she encountered racism. Then, she studied and became a pharmacist but in 1938, she decided to move in Harlem with her husband and to write. She began by writing short stories and poems that exposed the treat of racism. The Necessary Knocking on the Door was one of them. Particularly, Ann Petry denounced this scourge of society by using setting, characterisation and conflict.First of all, the setting adds depth to the theme of racism. Right in the introduction, the author carries the reader in a dark and mysterious environment. An unusual emphasis is made on the moon light and the building's walls. These elements of the setting convey all this fear and repudiation towards racism. The "pale, cold light making grotesque patterns on the floors, walls and ceiling" gives an idea of the felling of insecurity that the main character is suffering from. In addition, the stillness and old age of the place makes the reader realise that things are not going to change. The author is making it more obvious when she says that the wood is "protesting against age". Then, Ann Petry carries her character Alice Knight in the long corridor. Mrs. Petry uses a very important word in that part of the story: "The moon light is superimposing the walls". Roughly, it means that the white light is on the dark walls. Ultimately, the use of such word could be interpreted as the superiority of the whites over the blacks, an important idea of racism. The little panel on Mrs Taylor's door is also imposing the difference between white and black. Instead of writing simply that there was a card, the author describes it as a small white card with a sharp black inscription on it. The setting of the ...
