Analysis Of Carson Mccullers's The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter

In the novel, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Carson McCullers centers her novel around fragmented individuals who struggle to relate and commune with the society; this struggle impedes their capability to discover their identities. Settled in a Southern town, McCullers portrays a deaf mute John Singer who communicates fluently with Antonapoulos, his deaf mute friend, through the usage of sign language. Over time, John Singer develops a strong bond with Antonapoulos, but this bond shatters after Antonapoulos is admitted to the asylum. For Singer, “Nothing seemed real except the ten years with Antonapoulos… the months passed in this empty, dreaming way” (McCullers 11). After Antonapoulos is admitted to the asylum, a few misfits start to visit Singer, since they are intrigued by Singer’s serenity and presence. In search of happiness and interaction, the characters divulge and reveal their lives to Singer. Without Singer, they feel a solitary sensation inside of them that instigates troubles for all these lonely hunters. Although these individuals deify Singer, Singer does not discover a feeling of relation with them and he finds life meaningless to the point that he ultimately, commits suicide. Due to societal and personal matters, the characters cope with the difficulty of isolation and consult John Singer for comfort and support with their emotional frailties, deeming that he is the only person who grasps them. Also, McCullers describes how all the lost souls find it essential to form a god to which they can communicate with in their times of isolation, struggle, and desperation. Primarily, McCullers portrays how only through commune will the characters be able to feel a part of society and merge their fragmentation to uncover thei...

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...mmonalities, Singer locks himself solely in Antonapoulos. By locking himself in Antonapoulos indicates that Singer enforces his individual identity on Antonapoulos and does not create his own identity. Singer cuts himself off from everyone, and by doing so, he demolishes the chance to find his own identity, his ipseity. Basically, Singer establishes a perception of communicating but does not attain common understanding.

Through the lost and lonely souls, McCullers depicts the significance of forming a god to eliminate feelings of isolation and desperation, however, confiding a god also destroys the lost soul. Besides the lonely hunters, Singer’s bond with Antonapoulos illustrates a relationship in which one relies on a god but by committing this action, destroys his self. Through communication solely with Antonapoulos, Singer really speaks to a mirror of his self.