Just Read The Title

McCullers, Carson. The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter. New York: First Mariner Books, 2000.

Just Read The Title

In her novel, The Heart Is a Lonely Heart, Carson McCullers vividly depicts a series of depressing happenings centered around a collection of miserable characters. While the small southern town hosts a multitude of people offering plenty of friendship potential, the protagonists find themselves in a hellish isolation with no example surpassing that of the empty relationship between Biff Brannon and Mick Kelly. This association enhanced by McCullers' anxious diction and precise syntax reveals the true meaning of loneliness.

By manipulating her nervous diction in sync with the awkward connection Biff has with Mick, McCullers discovers the ability to accurately relay just how far Mr. Brannon has slipped into seclusion. The key component to unlocking the forlorn state of Biff lies in McCullers' ability to utilize plain words and subtle tones that hint at Biff's adolescent crush on Mick. For example, during a state of reflection, Biff finds himself pondering his self-conscious interactions with Mick as the author reveals, "In him there was an uneasiness, and when he spoke to her his voice had a rough, strange sound," a strong initial intimation of Mr. Brannon's easily intimidated nature (McCullers 121). Also through this quote, whether Biff realizes it or not, Mick unlocks a deep seeded self-esteem issue within him. This continues with a series of nervous, forced dialogue between an unsure Biff and his secret love Mick, "He turned to Mick and when he looked at her a blush reddened his face...'And how are you getting on with your business now?' 'What business?' Mick asked suspiciously. 'Just the business of living,' he said. 'School - and so forth.' 'O.K., I reckon,' she said," (211). The author executes the archetypal situation to unleash a stumbling and tongue-tied Biff Brannon at his worst, using his pre-teen level confidence upon Mick. It seems that Biff reverts back to a near primal state of when talking to Mick. At this point a vital thought enters the mind, this man has problems communicating with a high school student, so to assume that Biff interacts with adults his own age is about as ridiculous as trying to find a corner in a circular room. Through her deft use of adolescent influenced diction complemented with the uneasy relationship of Biff and Mick, Carson McCullers reveals Mr. Brannon's inability to communicate at the simplest level.

Continuing onward, McCullers pairs her direct syntax alongside Biff's shaky affiliation with Mick in a veritable tag team to better enforce Brannon's friendship troubles. This first example unveils Biff's life as simplistic and stagnant; a one track lifestyle devoted to pleasing Mick, and nothing else as "He remembered that perhaps Mick would come. He straightened his clothes and smoothed