Alienation In The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter

Carson McCullers is considered to be among the most significant American writers of the twentieth century. Her novels and short stories are thematically consistent in exploring isolation, loneliness, and unfulfilled desire. Her works are also noted for a frequent use of adolescent, grotesque, and socially marginalized characters to convey these themes.Published in 1940, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter is considered her best work. In this novel, she mainly depicts five characters: Singer—A marginalized mute bereft of voice, Mick—a girl with music dreams, Jake—a haggard radical agitator, Doctor Copeland—a frustrated black doctor with dreams of racial uplift, and Biff Brannon—a thoughtful observer lacking passion for life. This thesis applies the theory of alienation and mainly analyzes the alienated state of the main characters based on the reality in the American South in the 1930s, from which, we can fully understand their rage, loneliness, helplessness, and madness. Besides, it explores the interpersonal relations to further prove their existing predicament. These characters find themselves living in a spiritual wasteland, just as T.S. Eliot points out, where life is a meaningless and futile affair and people feel homeless and estranged. They try to escape this predicament but they can't find a way out. Carson McCullers shows her deep sympathy for the people living at the bottom of society in the American South and her great concern about lonely souls and humanity.