¶ … Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers is a tale involving five main characters that struggle against the isolation and despair brought on by circumstances in their lives. The story takes place during the late 1930's in an unnamed deep Southern town. McCullers begins the story by introducing the deaf-mute John Singer; he used to live with his friend Spiros Antonapoulos who was also a deaf-mute. Singer doted on his friend a great deal even though it was apparent that Antonapoulos never showed any appreciation towards it. Later Antonapoulos became mentally ill and was taken away to an insane asylum despite Singer's protestations. Due to this, Singer had to move out of the home he once shared with his friend and become a boarder at the house of the Kelly's.
Biff Brannon and Jake Blount are next introduced in the story. Biff runs a popular local restaurant named the New York Cafe. One day he saw that a drunken patron by the name of Jake Blount had shown up. Blount was found spouting out Socialist ideals and could switch from sounding very intellectual to sounding like the rambling drunk that he was. In his drunken stupor Jake went over to where Singer was eating and began talking affectionately to him as though they were once good friends; after Singer left Jake became upset and left also. Later on the police returned Jake to the cafe after stopping him from banging his head and fists against a wall; Singer then offers to take Jake home for the night and allow him to stay until he can find a place of his own.
McCullers next introduces the character Mick Kelly; she was said to be a young teenage girl who was the fourth child in a family of six children. Her family was very poor so they had to turn their home into a boarding house. Mick is constantly absorbed in her dreams to someday become a famous musician. She longs to learn to play the piano and wishes she could own a radio even though she realizes that her family is too poor to afford these things. She starts befriending Singer and later comes to confide her innermost secrets and ambitions to him.
The final main character to be introduced is Dr. Benedict Mady Copeland, a black doctor who is often deeply immersed in thoughts over the plight of his people. He yearns to arouse blacks towards action in improving their situation but is frustrated by what he perceives to be a lack of ambition on their part. He is upset over the way they have come to accept their situation and do not take advantage of receiving higher education and of ambitiously pursuing better job opportunities.
He has alienated most of his family members because he had shown his disappointment over the way his children turned out
. He is also a fervent Socialist but unlike Blount he is more concerned with the situation of black people more than he is with the situation of the general working-class. He starts befriending Singer after the latter had shown a gesture of kindness towards Copeland
One of the main themes that the book tries to express is in regard to man's struggle against isolation. Throughout the rest of the story the five main characters try to fight the feelings of isolation and disappointment they harbor within them. For Blount and Copeland, who hold radical social views, feelings of frustration and isolation arise whenever they are unsuccessful in convincing others of their ideals
. For Mick, these feelings arise whenever she is unable to express her musical aspirations to her family because they are too busy coping with poverty and whenever she is unsuccessful at trying to display her love of music
Biff's feelings of isolation become apparent especially after his wife dies; he does not often publicly display it however because he often likes to observe others' feelings and actions. Finally, Singer's feelings of loneliness become apparent whenever he recalls the times he spent with his friend Antonapoulos. Even though he begins to display some affection towards the other main characters he still holds Antonapoulos to be his best friend; he makes frequent visits to see his friend in the asylum.
Blount, Copeland, Mick and Biff come to rely on Singer as someone who they assume is listening to their problems. This is seen as the method through which these characters try to fight their isolation. Since Singer is unable to communicate, they are unaware of what he really thinks of their situations but they assume that he would agree with them nonetheless....
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