Cousin Lymon And Marvin Macy example essay topic

Carson McCullers's hort story, The Ballad Of A Sad Caf'e, is a classic illustration of how love can sometimes be one-sided and the pain that comes from this. In this story, the one-sidedness of love resulted in a love triangle being formed between Miss Amelia, Cousin Lymon, and Marvin Macy. In the story, Carson McCullers highlights an interesting but often overlooked definition of love. Her definition of love is stated as "Love is the a joint experience between two persons but the fact it is a joint experience does not mean that it is a similar experience to the two people involved... love is a solitary thing" (p. 26). In other words, McCullers views love as being one sided. The lover loves the beloved but the beloved can come to actually hate the lover at times.

The values and quality of any love can only be determined solely by the lover. One can put all that he or she has into love but all that he or she may get out of the love is pain. This situation is quite often seen in our everyday life whereby people go to the point of becoming a stalker or just totally obsessed with someone who does not share the same feelings. McCullers uses some very unique and unlikely characters to show this aspect of love in her story. First, Miss Amelia's attraction to Cousin Lymon, a short hunchback, was very unique in that there was no real strong physical attraction towards him. Miss Amelia loved cousin Lymon to the point that she gave him her kidney stones set in a watch chain as a symbol of giving part of herself.

"Miss Amelia cranked up the Ford which she had bought and treated Cousin Lymon to a picture show in Cheraw" (p. 25). Miss Amelia, who was very masculine for a woman, began to show a feminine side by wearing her red dress when Cousin Lymon came around. "During the week she still wore swamp boots and overalls, but on Sunday she put on a dark red dress that hung on her in a most peculiar fashion" (p. 24). Although Cousin Lymon had no reciprocal feelings for Miss Amelia, he showed an unusual attraction for someone of his own gender, Marvin Macy. Cousin Lymon seemed to be quite interested in Ms. Amelia's stories about Marvin Macy. When Henry Macy got a letter from his brother Marvin saying he was coming back in town, Miss Amelia said, "He will never set his split hoof on my premises" (p. 44).

Cousin Lymon, on the other hand continued to ask questions about him. "The name Marvin Macy was unknown to him, but tantalized him... ". (p. 43) This whole fascination would suggest that Cousin Lymon was gay. When Cousin Lymon saw Marvin Marcy, he "could wiggle his large pale ears with marvelous quickness and ease. This trick he always used when he wanted to get something special out of Miss Amelia... ". (p. 49). Cousin Lymon gave up his sleeping quarters to Marvin Macy as a result of his deep attraction towards him.

However, Amelia gave up her room to Cousin Lymon out of her love for him. It is interesting to note how McCullers uses the Miss Amelia and Marvin Macy to illustrate how thin the line can be between love and hate. Marvin Macy was once married to Miss Amelia, but since she never really loved him back, he grew a strong hatred for her. Before leaving town, he beat her up and totally wrecked her caf'e. Cousin Lymon also helped him out because of the love and admiration for Marvin Macy. Both left town never to be heard from again and Miss Amelia was left sad and broken hearted.

In this story, McCullers takes a different angle from most writers on love by showing a one-way love viewpoint between the characters and how this type of love can cause pain. It can best be said that in The Ballad Of The Sad Caf'e, no one beloved person loved the lover in return. As a result, a painful love triangle was formed between the characters..