The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter

In Part 2, the conflict between the characters’ internal and external worlds shows how difficult it is for them to be vulnerable: The townspeople keep their inner worlds private, but in doing so, they lose their chances of living a fulfilling life by cutting themselves off from the outer world. For example, Mick functions in the external world but is always thinking of music and fabricating a relationship with John. Internality is important to the characters because events in the outer world are outside of their control and often create adverse conditions. McCullers paints relationships as just out of reach for her characters: They connect with each other but not completely, as with John’s one-sided friendships, or they connect with each other and immediately break that connection, as with Mick’s experience with Harry. Relationships through family, friends, and community are the only way to combat the difficulties of life, but McCullers’s characters always retreat to their inner worlds, which are comfortable but lonely.

The Copeland family’s internal worlds are most at odds with their lived experience. As a Black man, Dr. Copeland can’t express his true self because he is in constant danger of abuse from white authorities and society at large. His years of disciplined study and building his career can be shattered in a moment if a white person takes offense at his behavior. The loss of Willie’s feet is a permanent reminder of his society’s cruelty toward Black people. Willie is expendable to his society, and the loss of his feet will make working and living much harder for him, further adding to the precarity of his circumstances. When Copeland is falsely arrested in his attempt to find justice for Willie, McCullers reveals the extent to which white society fears educated Black people seeking to exercise their rights: Copeland is perceived as a criminal simply by his presence in an institution of white power. He is physically abused and debased by the police, which achieves one of the goals of racism: to destroy the dignity of Black people.

These events have a profound effect on Dr. Copeland. He discovers that he was wrong for so many years to believe that being educated and thoughtful would earn Black people respect. Dr. Copeland was so committed to this line of thinking that he alienated his sons for their imperfections. Now, Dr. Copeland realizes that he drove his children away for no reason because he had been wrong to expect fairness from white America. Rather than play along with white American expectations, Dr. Copeland now believes that Black people should advocate for themselves through action. His change of heart is a necessary character development because the trauma of his and his son’s experiences is too important to ignore.

McCullers draws a contrast between the white and Black experience in the townspeople’s reaction to the news about Willie. When Mick finds out about Willie, she shouts aloud about punishing the men who hurt him, but Portia and Dr. Copeland are quiet. Mick can express her anger and shock, but Portia and her father can’t because they risk being perceived as violent. In their most difficult moments, they can’t allow any expression of their interiority into their external worlds for fear of the repercussions. It is part of Mick’s white privilege that she can vocalize her anger. What’s more, though her brother was too young to get arrested for shooting Baby, it is likely that had he been Black and not white, he would have suffered a severe punishment. In this town, Black and white people live vastly different lives. This is also emphasized in Dr. Copeland’s argument with Jake: Jake argues that talking, not action, will bring about change for the South, but he refuses to listen to Dr. Copeland’s experience as a Black man. He doesn’t realize that by not listening to Copeland, he further dehumanizes him. Jake doesn’t consider the Black experience in his philosophies on socialism because as a white man, he doesn’t need to. For Jake, everyone is equal in theory, but Dr. Copeland knows this is simply not the truth. Their confrontation is important because it emphasizes selfishness and hypocrisy in Jake’s characterization.

Mick’s coming-of-age arc continues in this section: She mourns the loss of childhood but accepts the inevitability of growing up. Because of the rapid changes she experiences, she retreats even further into her inner world of music. Having sexual intercourse with Harry is a rite of passage, but at the same time, it fills her with worry. She knows she must keep it a secret due to the conservative views in her family and community. Harry leaves immediately out of shame, and the separation is strange to Mick. This event teaches Mick about inadvertent consequences. Through Mick’s narrative, McCullers asks at what point childhood is truly over. By the time Mick has sex, she has already gone through formative moments of growth. But the secretness, shame, and pleasure of losing her virginity is a symbolic transition in which Mick leaves childhood behind her.

As the relationships between the characters fall into a comfortable routine, McCullers reveals the intricacies of the hunt referred to in her novel’s title. John chases Spiros while Mick chases John, and Biff chases Mick. Meanwhile, Jake and Dr. Copeland circle one another. This reveals the intertwined nature of small-town life, and the ways in which lonely people yearn for company.

Part 2 ends with John’s death by suicide. He is in grief over his only true friend and confidant’s passing, and he is ashamed by the way he ruined the opportunity to make new friends in the Deaf community. With no hope of companionship and no dreams to keep inspiring him, John takes his own life. His death is a manifestation of the depth of his isolation and sadness, a depth untouched by any of his friends. Unlike the other characters, John is stuck in his interiority. While he functions in the exterior world, he doesn’t have the same opportunities to communicate as the others do. Without someone to sign with, John is stuck in his inner world. This experience, of being cut off from communication, drives John to desperation. His death is especially poignant because McCullers had positioned John as the protagonist throughout the novel. John dies alone and in despair; a sad ending for a well-loved but little-understood man.