Singer And Antonapoulos example essay topic

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers is a novel set in a small Southern town in the late 1930's. McCullers writes about characters who are lonely and rejected. their lives intertwine in a search for friendship and understanding. Many of the characters have a need to be understood, however; none of them ever truly are. One of the characters in the novel, Jake Blount, searches for a sympathetic ear.

He appears in the New York Cafe drunk and rowdy talking to everyone and no one. He talks so much the "words came out of his throat like a cataract" (13). He constantly talks to everyone hoping someone will take the time to really listen and understand. His words come out "as though a dam inside him has broken" (20). Ironically, the one he thinks understands him is a deaf-mute named John Singer. He tells Singer, "You " re the only one in this town who catches what I mean... because I know you understand the things I want to mean" (59).

Jake Blount just assumes Singer understands him. Singer never gives him reason to believe otherwise. Nevertheless, Singer writes about Blount in a letter to Antonapoulos, "The one with the mustache I think is crazy" (183). He also writes Antonapoulos that Blount thinks "he and I have a secret together but I do not know what it is" (183). Jake Blount thinks Singer understands him when he actually does not. Another character searching for understanding is Dr. Benedict May Copeland.

Dr. Copeland is a black doctor with ideas that on one seems to understand regardless of how hard he tries to make them comprehend. His daughter, Portia, says that when she was a girl, he was "all the time studying by himself" (41). Dr. Copeland is well educated and this separates him from the rest of his family. The do not understand why he has always felt the need to educate them. At a Christmas party, Dr. Copeland talks to the guests about Karl Marx and what he stood for.

When he asks if everyone understands, they reply that they do. This makes him wonder if they are answering this way just to please him. He eventually turns to Mr. Singer for understanding. Dr. Copeland thinks Mr. Singer is wise and understands "the strong true purpose in a way that other white men could not" (114).

Mr. Singer admits in a letter to Antonapoulos that he in fact does not understand. John Singer is another character who feels a need for understanding. He is a deaf-mute that everyone else seems to turn to when they need to vent their feelings. Singer does not communicate often unless by pen. He usually watches what everyone else has to say. Singer is in need of understanding just as much as the other characters but has no one with whom he can share his feelings.

His deaf-mute friend, Antonapoulos, seems to be the only person who he can really "talk" to even though he does not quite comprehend everything Singer tells him. Singer and Antonapoulos have been friends for ten years and although Antonapoulos does not attempt to communicate with Singer unless he is hungry or sleepy, Singer continues to tell him everything that is on his mind. Singer assumes an understanding in Antonapoulos. In his letter to Antonapoulos Singer tells him, "I do not understand, so I write it to you because I think you will understand" (184). He also tells Antonapoulos that he wants to see him because "I am not meant to be alone and without you who understand" (185).

McCullers' characters have the need to be understood. Most think they find understanding in Singer, a deaf-mute who really understands nothing. Singer thinks the only one he can communicate with is Antonapoulos, his deaf-mute friend who is usually interested in everything but what Singer has to say. Throughout the novel, these characters search for something to fill their feelings of loneliness and rejection but in the end never find it..