Literary Devices in The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Setting
In The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, the
unnamed town is the entire world. Everyone's trying to escape – from
economic, physical, mental, and spiritual hard times – but no one can
get the job do...
Narrator Point of View
Omniscient. Sounds kind of spooky, right? Well, let's take a look. See, this novel is highly episodic, which means it is structured as a series of small – you guessed it – episodes that are all...
Genre
Coming of AgeWe usually think of coming of age as something that happens to a kid. And we definitely get that here, as Mick goes from girl-with-a-dream to matured-too-quickly responsible adult. But...
Tone
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter sure has a lot of characters. (Don't believe us? Check out our "Character Analyses" page.) So you might be surprised to hear that the tone is pretty much embodied by on...
Writing Style
It's All in the DetailsThis novel thrives on vivid descriptions of entire character worlds. We get all the gritty details: bodies, thoughts, feelings, senses, people, places – everything is knit...
What's Up With the Title?
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter. Pretty poetic title, right? Well, that's because it comes from a poem: "The Lonely Hunter" by Fiona MacLeod, a.k.a. William Sharp. (Yep, this guy wrote as a lady). Let...
What's Up With the Ending?
The final scenes of the novel act as the opposite of an epilogue. Usually, an epilogue wraps things up nicely and gives us a rundown of all the characters. There are a ton of examples, and, well, t...
Tough-o-Meter
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter has a generally straightforward style (it's actually a pretty quick read) and there's not too much to the plot: a deaf/mute dude befriends an eclectic mix of people, ye...
Plot Analysis
Once Upon a TimeThe first chapter of this novel serves as a prologue to our story, introducing us to Singer and setting the stage for when he meets our four main characters. In some ways, this part...
Booker's Seven Basic Plots Analysis
Anticipation StageIn our first stage, all the main characters meet Singer and begin to bond with him. Anticipation, indeed: how is this all going to play out?Dream StageAs the plot moves along, eve...
Three-Act Plot Analysis
This one's pretty simple.Readers, meet our four (plus one) main characters: Biff, Mick, Jake, and Copeland. And of course, they're main squeeze, Singer.This is pretty much the bulk of the plot. We'...
Trivia
Like Mick, Carson McCullers loved music and was actually studying to become a pianist. She even landed a spot in Julliard and went to New York to attend, but when she got there, she lost the tuitio...
Steaminess Rating
PG-13There's nothing graphic at all in The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter. In fact, it's downright vague even when Mick does the deed. Sexuality and the body are highlighted more than the act of sex itse...
Allusions
Mark 1:16-20 (1.2.138-9)Benedict de Spinoza (first reference 1.5.1)Karl Marx (first reference 1.5.161)William Shakespeare (first reference 1.5.161)Doctor Samuel Johnson (2.1.31)"The Vicar of Wakefi...