Isolation In The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter

The human mind is an impenetrable fortress – an inescapable prison. From the moment we are born, we cry out in the hopes that someone will hear us. From the second we realize we have limbs, we stretch out our hands, searching for someone to hold on to. Wrenched away from the safe embrace of the womb, we feel exposed, defenseless and utterly alone. Throughout our tumultuous lives, we crave to be comforted, to be told that we are understood, to be assured that we are not alone in our experiences. It is human instinct to seek companionship as an alternative to solitude. Whether it takes the form of a sound, an action or even strokes on a paper, we attempt to forge connections in the only way we know how – by communicating. However, explorations
of the human condition, such as works of fiction, have revealed that, despite our best efforts, interpersonal communication is inherently flawed. In the novel The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Carson McCullers portrays the experiences of John Singer, a deaf-mute who unwittingly becomes the confidant for a group of misfits: the communist alcoholic, Jake Blount; the black doctor consumed by the injustice of racial inequality, Maby Copeland; the adolescent aspiring musician, Mick Kelly, and the aging observer, Biff Brannon. Desperate to alleviate their loneliness, each of these characters attempt to reach out but, instead, latch on to John Singer, with tragic results.

Carson McCullers’ The Heart is a Lonely Hunter illustrates that emotional isolation is inherent to the human condition as communication is disastrously limited by the compartmentalized nature of human identity, a fixation on individual differences, and self-insulation.
Throughout The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, characters undergo a bitter struggle to preserve their identities. Set in a small Southern town in the late 1930s, the novel explores the quest of several individuals as they seek a sense of belonging within a community rife with social and economic barriers. While each of the characters fight to find a place for themselves, the essence of who they are as people – their passions, dreams and beliefs – is restricted by the oppressive nature of the society they wish to be a part of. A natural solution to this dilemma is noted by Biff Brannon, who observes that “in nearly every person there [is] some special […] part kept always guarded” (McCullers 29). Success against oppressive social constructs while still fulfilling the need to be a part of a greater community is only made possible through the guarding of certain facets of one’s identity, shielding the fragile parts of oneself from exposure to a harsh reality. This compartmentalization is most apparent in Mick Kelly, who “has two places – the inside room and the outside room” (163). Mick emotionally separates her life into two distinct parts. The outside room is where she manages her everyday responsibilities to school, family and, later, work; it is here that she confronts her family’s harsh economic reality and accomplishes all that is expected of a young woman from a poor family during the Great Depression. The inside room, on the other hand, is where Mick’s confidential aspirations, attraction to kindred spirits like John Singer, and private devotion to music dwell. Mick’s compartmentalization of her identity functions as a coping mechanism that allows her to escape her present troubles by nurturing a rich inner life independent of her hardships and to hold on to the hope that the future will be brighter – that the inside room will one day become the outside room. This is the only way that Mick may accept her obligations as a member of her family and community. Ironically, this arrangement, which should promote a sense of belonging as it facilitates living within a community, actually furthers her feelings of isolation. Mick reflects that “the inside room [is] a very private place. She could be in the middle of a house full of people and still feel like she was locked up by herself” (163). The inside room is where Mick houses everything that truly matters to her; the “real” Mick lives in a place where few people enter. Everyone else is confined to the outside room, where she may interact with them at an arm’s length. This distance inhibits Mick’s ability to be truly understood by others as she converses only in pleasantries while projecting a carefully constructed image of herself. She believes that John Singer, who inhabits both the outside room and the inside room (163), is the only one that really understands her. All of Mick’s communication with John consists of her essentially inviting him into the inside room, as she speaks about her love for music, foreign travel and other topics closer to her heart. It is only with Singer that Mick lets down her guard and reveals her complete identity. In the aftermath of Singer’s suicide and beginning fulltime employment, Mick feels shut off from the inside room, preferring solitude to the tiring company of others in her spare time. No one else is able to understand her passions and aspirations as she does not share this part of herself with others, and so she feels misunderstood and alone. While Mick Kelly’s compartmentalization of her life is a necessary measure for surviving the oppressive nature of her society, it also limits her ability to engage in meaningful communication, thus contributing to her deep sense of loneliness.
On the other hand, two individuals who openly share similar passions may still fail to communicate. Doctor Copeland, an educated black man living during a period of racial turmoil, believes that his one true purpose in life is to alleviate racial injustice in the South by empowering his people and applying Marxist ideology. He is often disappointed to find that no matter how much vehemence he puts into his lectures, his words seem to fall on deaf ears as his people simply cannot comprehend his ideas as he falls in a precarious position between the worlds of the white and black man due to his higher education. Driving away friends and family by imposing impossible expectations on himself and those around him, Copeland pursues his goals alone. As a result, he often feels bitterly alienated by the very people he is trying to help. Jake Blount is a wandering prophet who travels from town to town preaching communist ideals in the hopes of initiating a workers’ revolution. He is constantly unsuccessful as his fellow labourers reject his ideology. The deeper purpose behind Blount’s nomadic lifestyle is to seek a place where others understand and accept him completely, but he is a man with no home who often resorts to alcohol to numb the pain. Doctor Copeland and Jake Blount are shown to have much in common as they are both passionate advocates for social equality who wish to empower others by applying socialist ideologies, and have a tendency to lash out in violent outbursts against the deep isolation that is consequent to a zealous pursuit of their ideals. However, when given the opportunity to converse, after Blount visits Copeland following Willie’s return home, each is quick to interrupt and dismiss the concerns of the other, convinced that they are interested in very separate issues. Unable to see eye-to-eye on a single matter, they berate each other and eventually part ways acrimoniously (304). Blount later laments this missed opportunity after Copeland leaves town, reflecting that “those who knew were like a handful of naked soldiers before an armed battalion. And what had they done? They had turned to quarrel with each other” (343). Both Copeland and Blount feel the pangs of loneliness every day, as no one else comprehends their ideological viewpoints. Rather than rejoicing in having finally found someone of like mind and similar goals, Copeland and Blount focus on their insignificant differences, failing to see the “big picture” – how race and class often intersect. They are impatient to speak and be heard but are unwilling to listen. They do not recognise that they both have valid ideas that may be combined to initiate social change or that they represent to each other the potential for shared understanding, a desire that is unfulfilled by preaching to people who may as well have not heard them. When the chance to communicate and connect finally arises, Doctor Copeland and Jake Blount fail to take it as they are too preoccupied with inconsequential disparities.
Carson McCullers’ use of setting and characterization in The Heart is a Lonely Hunter illustrates that the ideas discussed in the novel are not specific to fictional scenarios, but are typical to human nature.
The characters in the novel are shown to be exaggerations, emphasizing the traits they caricaturize, but also painfully human in their loves, labours and losses. The backdrop of a small Southern town in the late 1930s is a realistic setting in which characters like Jake Blount and Doctor Copeland unsuccessfully attempt to apply socialist ideologies. Constantly failing to communicate, and unable to initiate change in an economically- and socially-oppressed community, the population turns to various extremes in search of comfort. For some, this alternative is religion. Throughout the novel, characters such as Simms and Portia conflict with the secular Blount and Copeland, who refuse to wait for miracles. The adoration the four main characters feel for Singer often crosses into the realm of religious fervour; Singer is a “home-made God” (232) who is endowed with perfectly benevolent and omniscient qualities by his “worshippers” precisely because of his inactivity. Others turn to more violent extremes. Whether it is Willie’s tragic torture and maiming at the hands of prison guards, the shocking race riots that culminate in Blount leaving town, or Copeland’s unlawful arrest, violence is shown to, in part, be a product of prejudice and desperation; the compulsive desire to
have a scapegoat on which blame may be laid and frustrations may be vented. Additionally, some adhere to stringent ideologies to give themselves the illusion of power to control and change their circumstances. Doctor Copeland and Jake Blount sabotage their own relationships in pursuit of such ideals. Frequent references to the rise of fascism in Europe throughout the novel foreshadow a disturbing political shift. Harry Minowitz, an intelligent Jewish boy who often talks about assassinating Hitler, admits to once believing fascism was “wonderful” (247), a unifying force in trying times, without realizing the horrors consequent to the regime as he “didn’t want to think about what was happening” (247). For many, Nazism provided hope during a time of social and economic turmoil and people’s wilful obliviousness allowed them to put faith in its fanatical tenets. However, the action of resorting to extremes in times of desperation is not limited to those that inhabit our fiction or our past. A recent example of such behaviour would be the shooting that took place in Ottawa, in which a desperate and alienated man acted on a violent and radical form of religion in an attempt to be heard. Issues discussed within the novel – discrimination, violence, oppression, sexuality, isolation, the search for identity – are all concerns relevant to our own society. Through the portrayal of very human characters that are driven to religious, violent and ideological extremes due to an ultimate failure in communication within a historically turbulent setting, Carson McCullers shows that emotional isolation is characteristic to the human condition – an idea that is corroborated by contemporary manifestations.
Carson McCullers’ The Heart is a Lonely Hunter illustrates how human nature restricts communication, causing loneliness. While the compartmentalization of our identity permits us to cope with social obstacles, it also inhibits conversation, as we are forced to interact using carefully-constructed images rather than express what we truly want to say. By focusing on how we differ from others rather than recognising what we have in common, we reject opportunities to form relationships. Our tendency to insulate ourselves from the opinions and judgements of others precludes our ability to engage in meaningful discussion. Due to the barriers of communication, we are each locked into the prison of our own minds. In reaction to overwhelming feelings of isolation, we erroneously resort to extreme behaviours. However, as Biff Brannon realizes at the end of The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, life is a struggle between bitter loneliness and the search for companionship. This quest can only be successful through the instillation of honesty and trust, empathy, and courage. While our efforts to communicate and connect may end in failure, we will never cease to try. After all, the key to our mental jail cell lies in the prison of another.