Books - The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter

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	Books - The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1940) is a novel by Carson McCullers. It is centered on a deaf-mute named John Singer and the people he encounters in a 1930s Georgia mill town. The struggles of four of his primary acquaintances make up the majority of the narrative; they are Mick Kelly, a young girl, Jake Blount, a labor agitator, Biff Brannon, a restauranteur, and Dr. Benedict Copeland, an idealistic African-American doctor.

Major characters

John Singer - A deaf-mute who makes a living engraving silver pieces in a jewelry shop. Singer is tall and thin, with intelligent gray eyes. He almost always keeps his hands thrust deep into his pockets. A diligent worker and a kind person, he is also a good and attentive listener, which makes him very appealing to others.

Spiros Antonapoulos - A deaf-mute who is Singer's best friend. Antonapoulos and Singer live together for more than ten years until Antonapoulos is sent to an insane asylum at the beginning of the story. He is fat, greasy, and lazy, never signing anything with his hands unless he is talking about eating, drinking, or sleeping.

Mick Kelly - The fourth child in a family of six. Fourteen years old, Mick is tall for her age and very thin, with short blond hair and blue eyes. She is often absorbed in private thoughts and dreams, such as learning to play the piano and traveling in foreign countries. Mick's family is poor and takes on boarders as a way to make money.

Dr. Benedict Mady Copeland - An aging black doctor who works tirelessly virtually all the time. Dr. Copeland, traveled to the North for an education and then returned to the South out of a feeling of duty to help blacks. He often feels uncontrollable anger about the injustices black people suffer in the South. Copeland is smart, very fastidious and precise in his manner of speaking and word choice, and somewhat estranged from his family.

Biff Brannon - The proprietor of the New York Café, a central eating spot in town. Mr. Brannon is a quiet, thoughtful man who enjoys pondering life and wants children of his own. His hair is so dark and thick that he needs to shave twice a day. He has a habit of pressing his nose down with his thumb when he thinks about things.

Jake Blount - A heavy-drinking, ranting man who comes into town and frequents Mr. Brannon's café. Jake is a bizarre looking man: short, but with long arms, large hands, and a moustache that appears oddly detached from his somewhat distorted face. He drinks constantly and often goes on long, frustrated rants about socialism. Jake's behavior is extremely volatile and occasionally violent.

Portia - Dr. Copeland's daughter, who works as a servant in the Kelly household. Portia is very loving and faithful, and she values her relationships with her family members very highly. She always tries to include her father in these gatherings, even though he is estranged from much of the family. Portia has light honey- colored skin like her mother.

Willie - Dr. Copeland's son and Portia's brother, who works in the kitchen at Mr. Brannon's cafe. Willie always carries his trademark harmonica and plays it wherever he goes. He is a sweet young man, but not very bright, and he gets into trouble primarily by being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Plot summary

The first chapter of The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter introduces us to John Singer and Spiros Antonapoulos, two good friends who live together in a town in the Deep South and who are both deaf-mutes. Antonapoulos works in his cousin's fruit store, and Singer works as a silver engraver in a jewelry shop. They spend ten years living together in this way.

One day Antonapoulos gets sick, and even after he recovers he is a changed man. He begins stealing and urinating on buildings, and exhibiting other erratic behavior. Finally, Antonapoulos's cousin sends him to a mental asylum, although Singer would rather have Antonapoulos stay with him. After Antonapoulos leaves, Singer moves into a local boarding house in town run by a family named the Kellys.

The narrator then introduces us to Biff Brannon, the proprietor of the New York Café, the establishment in town where Singer now eats all his meals. Biff is lounging on the counter watching a new patron named Jake Blount, as the constantly drunk Jake is intriguing. Blount goes over and sits with Singer and begins talking to him as though the two are good friends. Then Singer leaves. Once Jake realizes in his drunken stupor that Singer has left, he goes into an alley and begins beating his head and fists against a brick wall until he is bruised and bloody. The police bring Jake back to the café, and Singer volunteers to let the drunk stay the night with him.

The narrative shifts to the perspective of Mick Kelly, the young teenage daughter of the couple who own the boarding house where Singer is staying. Mick spends her summer days looking after her two younger brothers, Bubber and Ralph. Mick is passionate about music, and she tries to make a violin out of a ukulele and strings from various different instruments. She is frustrated when her attempt fails.

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