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.
Highlights
Lula Carson Smith McCullers was born in 1917, in Columbus, Georgia
As a unique and representative writer of South America ranked after Faulkner, Porter, McCullers her works greatly concerned the issues of that time, “racial and gender inequality, classism and economic injustice, the hypocrisy of religious fundamentalism, anti-intellectualism, xenophobia, and homophobia” (Dews, 2019, p. 281)
Carson McCullers is famous for her personal experiences and her deep understanding on human life
Summary
Lula Carson Smith McCullers was born in 1917, in Columbus, Georgia. Her major works’ settings were in her native South suffused with the atmosphere of the region. Living in a unique historical background, she suffered special personal experiences During her childhood, Carson was a particular girl treated as a freak just because of her over height that confused her a lot. The homosexual love at her early age had a great impact on her later writing skills Her personal life experiences determined her works, and characterized some autobiographical aspects of the novel. These characters are grotesques because they are “characterized by comic distortion or exaggeration” These physical abnormalities only emphasize the characters’ more important spiritual abnormalities. This novel gives us a day, a year, and a day in the lives of five characters: Singer, Mick, Brannon, Blount, and Dr Copeland. All three become frustrated, alienated when fail to communicate with the ones who they feel can end their isolation
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.