The Grotesque World in The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

Abstract

This article is going to explore the reasons leading the figures grotesque and the way out of such world, with the help of Bakhtin’s theory of grotesque realism, via linking the duality of physical part with the grotesque to analyze the three main characters’ physical characteristics, social relationships and mental world. Singer, Mick and Biff are the distinct characters in Carson McCullers’s novel The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. Their lives are shot through with frustration and discouragement and the intense privacy of their inner lives gives the reader the impression that they are isolated, lonely beings. They try to build connections with others but eventually they fail. The following are the reasons: Firstly, they cannot identify themselves with the majority due to their physical problems, which further lead to their mental crisis. Secondly, they are alienated from the majority in society while they communicate with the ones who cannot end their isolation, which enforces their alienation. Finally, loneliness grips them so powerfully that they cannot come out of their grotesque dreaming world centering on the truth or idea or purpose they have created for themselves. Therefore the way out is to experience the social reality, to express ideas, share care and love with others. Through the interpretation of this novel, the point of this article is to explain the reasons and the ways out of alienation, the keyword in the grotesque world.