The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter Character Analysis

In her novel, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Carson McCullers is trying to convey the idea of sorrow and loneliness correlating to death.

One seemingly minor event that holds greater symbolic significance is when Spiros Antonapoulos is sent to the asylum. This is significant owing to the fact that it is the beginning of the chain of events that causes the other characters to meet John Singer.

Singer and Antonapoulos are best friends, however, they are complete opposites. Singer is selfless, hardworking, and cares too much while Antonapoulos is an overweight, lazy Greek who is undeserving of Singers devotion. Their differences are shown on the first page with Antonapoulos wearing “a yellow or green polo shirt stuffed sloppily into his trousers” and Singer is “always immaculate and very soberly dressed.” Both Singer and Antonapoulos can neither speak nor hear. Singer is loyal to the Greek because for 10 years “they were always seen together” and they only communicate with one another. Singer is so attached to Antonapoulos that he feels as if his life is shattered when Antonapoulos is sent away to the Asylum. The apartment they once shared together holds too many memories so Singer moves to the Kelly house, which is how he meets the four other characters. He visits Antonapoulos whenever he can

and brings gifts that he thinks his friend will enjoy. One day when singer visits, he finds out that Antonapoulos has died and it destroys him, so when he comes home, he obtains a gun and then shoots himself in the chest.
Mick Kelly is a fourteen year old girl with a passion for music. She is instantly drawn to singer and begins to visit him everyday.The man becomes so important in her life that she trusts him to talk about her love for music. Sometimes she spends her nights sitting by rich houses and listening to their radios and “all the time there was some kind of piano piece or other music going on in the back of her head.” The one constant in Mick’s life is her music and Singer. By the end of the story she has matured immensely; she loses her virginity and takes a job that forces her to drop out of school to keep her family out of poverty.When he buys a radio for her, every day she goes into his room and just listens it. When Singer kills himself she is he one who finds him and “she had run in the dark and hit herself with her fists.” In life he made her want to do great things and in death she is still inspired by his legacy but she has to focus on the “outside room” now.
Biff Brannon is the owner of the New York Café and is the most similar to Singer. He is observant, quiet, and organized. He owns the café with his wife Alice but they do not communicate anymore and when she dies his feminine side comes out. The non communication aspect of their marriage is a mirror of Singer and Antonapoulos’ relationship. There are not very many scenes where Biff and Singer are alone so there is not a very big impact lifewise. When Singer dies, Biff “can not be tranquil” about his death because “there was something not natural about it all - something like an ugly joke. When he thought of it he felt uneasy and in some unknown way afraid.”
Jake Blount is a drunk, a socialist and the closest to Singer. He believes that the man understands him and his ideals so he stays with him, He is angry most of the time and has violent outbursts when people do not listen or understand him. When he is with Singer he drinks less and stays in town. Besides Singer he does not have any friends or anyone that he talks to. He believes in nothing but his political views and this is shown when he makes a sign that he says is for a preacher that reads, “Workers! America Is The Richest Country In The World And Yet A Third Of Us Are Starving. When Will We Unite And Demand Our Share.” Since Singer can not talk to him he is the perfect blank slate Jake needs to work out his problems and to calm him down. When Singer dies, Jake is angry that the man he told everything to is gone. Since there is nothing to hold him back he leaves town to find someone else to listen to him and help him start a socialistic revolution.
Doctor Benedict Mady Copeland is a black doctor who is devoted to helping the black community.

He is like the fictional version of Malcolm X 20 years before his time. He is constantly upset that the black community can not and will not do anything to pull themselves out of the pit they are in. Singer is the only white man who can he can talk to and trust. He only thinks this because Singer can not voice his opinions and not disagree with how problems are solved. When Singer dies it is a devastating blow and “a dark sorrow lays down in his heart.” Doctor Copeland does not understand how Singer can be truly dead “when [he] still lives in the souls of those who are left

behind.”
The impact of Antonapoulos going to the asylum was monumental. Not only did every character's life change,