The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1940)
Carson McCullers
A small mill town in the South is a lonely place for those dangling
on the fringes of polite 1930s society. A café owner, a labor organizer, an
African-American doctor, and a teenage girl growing up in a boarding house make
an unlikely cast of characters. The narrative thread holding this book and these
characters together is a lonely, deaf-mute man named John Singer.
Each of these characters has secret dreams and ambitions
they only share with Singer. The café owner is really an interior decorator at heart, the
labor organizer longs for knowledge, the doctor struggles to organize his
people to fight against racism, and the girl dreams of playing music in great concert halls. Sadly
their fear of sharing their dreams and their ingrained distrust prevent them from
realizing the person who they think is their enemy would actually be their best
ally or perfect partner.
A major theme of this book, like Invisible Man, is projection. Since Singer is unable to
communicate,
he becomes all things to all people. He is the sounding board,
confessor, counselor, lover, and friend to all who know him. He is everything
and nothing; a projection or creation of the mind to fill the needs of each
character. While these characters consider Singer as their only friend, they
are completely unaware of his deep longing for the return of his only friend –
someone they have never met.  |
| Carson McCullers: Saucy Minx |
Like most of the novels in the 100 best English novels ofthe 20th century, there are no happy endings in this story. The
characters do not rise above their circumstances. I am not sure they even learn
from what they experience in the time period the book covers. It’s really a
“things happen, some people are upset about these things, others don’t even
notice, and in the end life goes on” kind of book.
Despite this, I really enjoyed this book – even though there is no real
crisis to overcome, no crescendo of emotion, and no just rewards meted out for
bad behavior. These are simply well-crafted characters who are only trying to
get through the difficulties of life, fighting or succumbing to their
circumstances and carrying on as best they can. And, while nothing seems to
really happen, I found that I couldn’t put this book down once I started
reading it.
And - like Slaughterhouse Five, there was a movie. Adding it to the Netflix queue now.
Next up An American Tragedy.
