"So you wouldn't have married me if I'd been black."" This quote by the female protagonist in Tobias Wolff's short story, "Say Yes- addresses the unlikelihood of an interracial couple as presented in Ann Petry's novel, The Narrows. I argue that Petry couples Camillo and Link in order to overcome the stereotype Wolff makes prevalent, and to show that though they are from different races, they are compatible. She does this through contrasting them with a same-race (yet unsuccessful) couple in the novel. Another way she proves this point is by showing how their town yearns for a break in traditional same-race marriages through dichromatic descriptions of the town in contrast to monochromatic descriptions of Abbie. .
Petry intentionally contrasts the two couples - Mamie and Powther, and Camillo and Link - in this story to show that although Mamie and Powther are a same race couple, does not mean they are a successful couple. She breaks the social ideals of the time instead by showing how Camillo and Link develop a relationship and find love. We see examples of this in the text when we read from Link's perspective, "And he thought he had never seen one quite so beautifully put together - like a swimmer or a racehorse or an airplane, all the essential parts in the exact right place. Lovely."" (73). Link focuses on Camillo's strengths throughout their relationship. He glorifies her as an athlete, then a powerful animal, and lastly as a machine that is associated with conquering the skies. When we break into Powther's thoughts, however, we find that while he talks "he studies her [Mamie], trying to analyze her weaknesses."" (184). Powther goes on to talk of Mamie and how she spends money carelessly, only thinking of her in terms of dollars and materialistic qualities. Petry tries to demonstrate that no matter what the races in a relationship may be, they don't account for how the people within the relationship view each other.
