Disabilities in Carson's McCullers's The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter : Discovering Ones True Identity

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In Hamlet, a famous play written by William Shakespeare, the character Polonius says, “To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.” With these words, Shakespeare captures the idea of realizing the true identity in one’s self. Unfortunately, at times, one might allow a disability to hinder him or her from achieving the realization of full genuine truth. Through Carson McCullers’ Great American Novel, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter the idea of disabilities hindering the truth about a man or woman clearly presents itself. The novel, published in 1940, takes place in a rural mill-town in the south from 1938-1939, just before WWII. In the novel, characters like John Singer, Mick Kelly, Jake Blount, Dr. Copeland and Biff Brannon take the reader on an emotional roller coaster that sends the message of disabilities hindering the achievement of complete truth. When observing The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by McCullers, it becomes clear to the reader that a disability, occasionally, can conceal the genuine truth of a person through John Singer’s inability to hear or speak, Jake Blount’s addiction to alcohol, Dr. Copeland’s insecurity about his race, and Biff Brannon’s androgyny without his wife.
One of the ways that McCullers communicates her theme, “a disability, occasionally, can conceal the genuine truth of a person,” comes through John Singer’s inability of speech and hearing. When introduced to Singer, the reader discovers the fact that Singer as well as his “obese and dreamy” Greek friend, Antonapoulus cannot hear voice nor utter a word. But as the reader progresses through the novel, many cling onto Singer and treat him as a god-like figure ultimately. “Singer is, in the ...

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...erary Reference Center. Web. 24 Nov. 2013.
Dodd, Wayne. “The Development of Theme through Symbol in the Novels of Carson McCullers.” The Georgia Review 17.2 (1963): 206-213. Web.
Gleason-White, Sarah. “Two Bodies in One: The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter and The Ballad of the Sad Café.” Bloom, Harold. Bloom’s Modern Critical Interpretations: Carson McCullers’ The Ballad of the Sad Café. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 2005. 119-137. Print.
Lubbers, Klaus. “The Necessary Order.” Bloom, Harold. Bloom’s Modern Critical Views: Carson McCullers. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. 33-52. Print.
McCullers, Carson. The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter. New York: Haughton Mifflin Harcourt, First Mariner, 2000. Print.
Snipes, Katherine. "Carson McCullers." Critical Survey of Long Fiction, Fourth Edition (2010): 1-8. Literary Reference Center. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.

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