Suppression,Resistance And Despair In The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter

American 20 th century female writer Carson McCullers' novel The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, through “the individual living space,” “the imaginary space” and “the social space,” reveals the power suppression that the characters' bodies and minds suffered, their brave resistance to the power space where they lived, and their social and individual despair after the imaginary space had disillusioned.According to Foucault's power space theory, space is no longer a resting place in the natural state, it has social and cultural connotation. With the combination of space and power, the social productivity of space is realized, the greatest possibility for the transformation of invisible power to the actual power has been provided.The main body of the thesis is divided into three parts:The second chapter “the suppressive individual living space” mainly discusses the mute Singer, the black doctor Copeland and the androgynous boss of the cafe Biff. Their abnormal bodies bring about loneliness and suppression in the individual living space. The third chapter “the resistant imaginary space” discusses the music dream of the tomboy Mick, the Marxist belief of the angry drunkard Jake and the wordless black doctor Copeland's aspiration of racial equality. They express the dissatisfaction with the reality by the imaginary space. The fourth chapter “the desperate social space” mainly discusses the southern town which is impacted by the northern industrial civilization. The collapse of economy, the loss of traditional belief and ineffectiveness of the “omnipotent” government power make people in the town fall into the desperate space which lacks of material and belief.The suppression in the individual living space reflects the change of the nature of power space. This makes space become an acting agent which inflicts suppression on characters physically and spiritually. This suppression also forces characters to imagine a resistant imaginary space which is the executor of fleeing from the reality and the shaper of the characters' bodies and minds. The past has collapsed completely and the reconstruction of the future is hopeless. Material and belief are scarce. The suppression in the power space is enhanced. The whole southern society falls into a desperate and disordered state. The reconstruction of power order in the space needs a very long time. Everything is wandering disorderly.