The Ballad Of The Sad Cafe Analysis

“The Ballad of the Sad Café,” written by Carson McCullers, takes place in a small, rural town in Georgia. This novella focuses around the life of a store clerk, Ms. Amelia, who was married to a man named Marvin Macy and after ten days of a bitter relationship between the two they got divorced. Several years after this event, a stranger named Cousin Lymon came to town claiming to be Ms. Amelia’s relative. She took a fondness to him and soon Ms. Amelia’s store was turned into a café because the whole town was privy to Cousin Lymon’s personality. Once Marvin Macy returned to the town, he tore Ms. Amelia’s life to shambles by using Cousin Lymon’s weak mindedness to his advantage. Ms. Amelia is a brawny and masculine woman whose personality is far from being tender and sociable. She is cheap and is always looking to get something out of anything, be it money or property. She is considered, amongst the town, to be rich because along with her store/café, Ms. Amelia also owns a still, where she makes her own brand of liquor, and creates homemade remedies for doctoring people in the town. Marvin Macy is the town outlaw who is always doing dirty deeds without regrets. He is a tall, dark,
He wants revenge on Ms. Amelia for never returning his affection. It is also possible that he is jealous of Cousin Lymon’s high position in the woman’s life, thus he would use him to double the pain towards her. This is most likely why he never chased the hunchback away for being irritating or a nuisance. Marvin Macy realized his great hold over Cousin Lymon and would do things such as lead him into the swamps, away from Ms. Amelia, to conspire with him and turn him against her. Once he knew his grip could not be broken, Marvin Macy put his plan into action and after Cousin Lymon’s betrayal the two destroyed Ms. Amelia’s home, along with her trust and happiness. The outlaw had his vengeance on her, so he and the hunchback moved on to lead a life of