The Ballad of the Sad Cafe

Bitsy and the men he confronts experience the tragedy of the hurt friend differently. The trainer, the horse owner, and the bookie have little sympathy for McGuire, who was injured on the horse track and can no longer be a jockey. Although men like McGuire and Bitsy provide the men’s livelihoods, none of the three men expresses any remorse for what happened. 

Bitsy’s devastation is reflected in the setting, which echoes The Detrimental Power of Loneliness. McCullers’s description of the restaurant highlights how cut off Bitsy is: “Everyone was with somebody else; there was no other person drinking alone that night. The jockey paid with a brand-new fifty-dollar bill and didn’t count the change” (98). The setting is a packed and lively restaurant, with attendees drinking with friends. Only Bitsy is by himself; only his drinking is not social but a reaction to his sadness. Reinforcing Bitsy’s lack of concern about social norms is the fact that he pays little attention to his money. Despite paying for his drink with $50 (about $600 in 2025), Bitsy does not pay attention to his change—his wealth does little to relieve his feelings of betrayal and alienation. Moreover, while Bitsy is in the grips of despair, the crowd around him is celebrating: “There was a party at the banquet table in the center […] Two girls wearing flannel slacks and blazers walked arm in arm across the room into the bar. From the main street outside came the echoes of holiday hysteria” (95). McCullers emphasizes the connection and belonging that Bitsy lacks through images of the party, the women linking arms, and the holiday mood. The contrast makes Bitsy stand out all the more—he is devastated while everyone else is experiencing “hysteria.” 

The story is interested in power dynamics. The three men that Bitsy interacts with have power over him: His trainer is essential to his success, the owner of the horse decides whether Bitsy rides, and even the bookie profits more from Bitsy’s racing than Bitsy does. The men thus only value Bitsy as a sports performer, not as a person. Their descriptions underscore that their main concern is money. For instance, bookie Simmons “had the face of a born gambler, carefully adjusted, the expression a permanent deadlock between fear and greed” (94). When Bitsy challenges them to show sympathy for McGuire, the men instead respond with concern about Bitsy’s drinking and his ability to ride. They dismiss Bitsy’s heartbreak as “crazy” (94). The men, defined by greed, need Bitsy to race, but do not care to interact with him on a personal level, amplifying Bitsy’s feelings of isolation.