Book Review by Alison B: The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter is Carson McCuller’s first novel, published when she was twenty three years old. This review focusses on its broad structure and key themes to enable comparisons of these elements to be made with her other books.
It is set in a mill town in the deep south of the USA in 1939. The pivotal character is Singer, a man who is profoundly deaf, relatively well educated, and uses signing and writing to communicate. Four other, disparate characters are attracted to Singer – a teenage girl who is captivated by classical music, a young man who is an avowed Marxist and a drunkard, a recently widowed man who runs a local diner, and a black doctor who works tirelessly to support the black community in the town. A large part of the narrative of the book is about the lives of these four characters who lead mostly separate lives, meeting when they visit Singer or the diner. Singer’s own story is also told, though he remains an enigmatic figure. An outer circle of characters provide additional perspectives on life in the town and the different ways
in which they deal with their plights, many of which are the same as those of the five main characters. Mostly, people take a more pragmatic approach, making the best of their situations rather than trying to fight against the injustices. They attempt to escape their hardships through easily accessible pleasures such as alcohol, the local fairground, and the cinema.
The core group of five characters allow Carson McCullers to reflect upon many of the key themes of the book:-
1. Spirituality and religion – Singer is used by the four other key figures as a kind of confidante to express their innermost thoughts, hopes and dreams. He might be viewed as a religious figure, acting as a confessor, or perhaps even a god.
2. Isolation and loneliness – All of them are isolated from the wider community to some extent by their physical or idealogical differences, or situations. However, I think the idea that every individual is isolated within his/her own heads where nobody else can access their thoughts is also expressed.
3. Politics – An obvious theme to be included given the rise of Nazism in Europe at the time. McCullers demonstrates that the Marxist agitator and the black doctor actually have many views in common in relation to the exploitation of the poor white townsfolk and the cruel racial prejudice exercised against the black population.
However, in a rare direct interaction between the four characters who form the inner circle around Singer, they fail to agree how to act on their beliefs.
4. Gender identity and sexuality – The bereaved man who runs a diner demonstrates a sense of being equivocal about his own gender, whilst the teenager has her first sexual experience.
5. Music – Carson McCullers was herself a gifted musician who was unable to attempt to pursue a professional career through ill health. There are many references to the joy and wonder which the teenage girl derives from music, her hopes to develop her skills and her attempts to compose music.
My view is that Carson McCullers was a young woman when she wrote this book, her head was full of ideas, and she sought to explore them all, frequently in a remarkably open and explicit manner given the date of publication. I thought the book was well written, the descriptions are clear and vivid, I could
picture the setting and the characters. The impact of the often very hot, oppressive climate was evident and there were some horrifying descriptions of violent events.
Two of the characters, the teenage girl and a black woman who works as a housekeeper, seemed the most complete and credible to me. Maybe this is a reflection of McCuller’s own life experience at this early stage in her life.
Did I enjoy it? Well, it was not a classic page turner, but it was constantly intriguing and, whilst I don’t think I understood it fully, I did enjoy it, and I would be fascinated to read more of her books.