Isolation In The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter
The human mind is an impenetrable fortress – an inescapable prison. From the moment we are born, we cry out in the hopes that someone will hear us. From the second we realize we have limbs, we stretch out our hands, searching for someone to hold on to. Wrenched away from the safe embrace of the womb, we feel exposed, defenseless and utterly alone. Throughout our tumultuous lives, we crave to be comforted, to be told that we are understood, to be assured that we are not alone in our experiences. It is human instinct to seek companionship as an alternative to solitude. Whether it takes the form of a sound, an action or even strokes on a paper, we attempt to forge connections in the only way we know how – by communicating. However, explorations
…show more content…
The characters in the novel are shown to be exaggerations, emphasizing the traits they caricaturize, but also painfully human in their loves, labours and losses. The backdrop of a small Southern town in the late 1930s is a realistic setting in which characters like Jake Blount and Doctor Copeland unsuccessfully attempt to apply socialist ideologies. Constantly failing to communicate, and unable to initiate change in an economically- and socially-oppressed community, the population turns to various extremes in search of comfort. For some, this alternative is religion. Throughout the novel, characters such as Simms and Portia conflict with the secular Blount and Copeland, who refuse to wait for miracles. The adoration the four main characters feel for Singer often crosses into the realm of religious fervour; Singer is a “home-made God” (232) who is endowed with perfectly benevolent and omniscient qualities by his “worshippers” precisely because of his inactivity. Others turn to more violent extremes. Whether it is Willie’s tragic torture and maiming at the hands of prison guards, the shocking race riots that culminate in Blount leaving town, or Copeland’s unlawful arrest, violence is shown to, in part, be a product of prejudice and desperation; the compulsive desire to
The characters in the novel are shown to be exaggerations, emphasizing the traits they caricaturize, but also painfully human in their loves, labours and losses. The backdrop of a small Southern town in the late 1930s is a realistic setting in which characters like Jake Blount and Doctor Copeland unsuccessfully attempt to apply socialist ideologies. Constantly failing to communicate, and unable to initiate change in an economically- and socially-oppressed community, the population turns to various extremes in search of comfort. For some, this alternative is religion. Throughout the novel, characters such as Simms and Portia conflict with the secular Blount and Copeland, who refuse to wait for miracles. The adoration the four main characters feel for Singer often crosses into the realm of religious fervour; Singer is a “home-made God” (232) who is endowed with perfectly benevolent and omniscient qualities by his “worshippers” precisely because of his inactivity. Others turn to more violent extremes. Whether it is Willie’s tragic torture and maiming at the hands of prison guards, the shocking race riots that culminate in Blount leaving town, or Copeland’s unlawful arrest, violence is shown to, in part, be a product of prejudice and desperation; the compulsive desire to