The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter

This passage is taken from the Part Two, Chapter 1, which focuses on Mick Kelly. This is the chapter in which she throws a party at her house and in which, later that night after all her guests have left, she goes for a walk and sits under the window of a rich house to listen to the music from their radio. For the first time in her life, Mick hears a symphony by Beethoven. This passage explains her reaction to the music, first as she hears it and then after it ends. There is nothing else in the story that affects Mick the way this music does; it is almost as though she is having a religious epiphany. The intensity of her reaction indicates her intensity and intelligence as a person and highlights the extent of the passion she feels about music. Mick loves it so much that after it ends, she experiences the absence as a physical "hurt."

This quote is taken from Part Two, from a chapter narrated from Jake Blount's point of view. Jake is talking to John Singer about the evils of capitalism because he thinks that Singer is someone who shares his passion for socialism. However, unlike Dr. Copeland, Blount thinks that the way to remedy all of these problems is to hold strikes and revolts to get pay raises and to raise people's awareness of the injustice under which they live. A worker's resistance to or fear of revolt baffles Jake, who assumes that any worker who would deliberately reject active social protest is also necessarily rejecting his own means of salvation.

This quote is taken from Part Two, Chapter 6, from the speech Dr. Copeland gives at his Christmas party. This quote demonstrates at once the eloquence of Dr. Copeland's speech and the wisdom of the message he attempts to impart to his people. After he makes this speech, he is overcome with joy, for nothing feels better to him than to speak to his people about how they may achieve justice, and to feel that his advice is being heard. After Dr. Copeland makes the speech, everyone applauds, and he is happy. However, he feels so strongly about his beliefs and is so anxious to know that someone is really listening that soon after the guests leave, he wonders if any of them will remember what he said. The possibility that many may not makes him anxious and restless again.

This quotation is taken from Part Two, Chapter 7, from the letter John Singer writes to Spiros Antonapoulos. This excerpt demonstrates the simple manner in which Singer would likely speak if he were able. Using simple words and phrases, he tells his friend about all of his visitors. This introductory paragraph is especially insightful. It is notable that Singer does not say that he feels any particular connection to any of the four; in fact, he says later in the letter that he does not even understand all of what Jake Blount and Dr. Copeland say to him, and that their anger frightens him. Singer says that it is nice to see the others, however, because they distract him from thinking about Antonapoulos's absence. It is clear that all of Singer's devotion is aimed solely at his absent friend, and that he does not—contrary to the beliefs of his four visitors—have any special empathy or understanding of any of their passions.

This quote is taken from the end of Part Three, Chapter 4—the last chapter of The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter. The passage is narrated from Biff Brannon's point of view. Biff's epiphany is unique in the novel; no other character experiences a sudden insight as to what the meaning of life may be. This passage also demonstrates McCullers's lyrical capabilities: the language is much like poetry. At the end of the novel, despite all the depressing events and failed hopes and dreams we have witnessed, the message McCullers leaves with us is an uplifting one. She ends with the assertion that, even though human love may often be misguided, the wondrous fact that humans are capable of loving and believing in others makes life worth living in all its strange and difficult variation.