The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter

In the final chapters of The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, McCullers explores the four featured townspeople after John’s death. Each of these characters has their own revelations or ways of moving through grief. They are all shocked by John’s death, which marks the symbolic closing of a chapter for each of their lives because they had all come to depend on John’s presence.

In Part 3, Chapter 1, Dr. Copeland’s disillusionment turns into a second chance with his sons. Though his abuse at the hands of the police and his subsequent illness are tragic examples of racism and oppression in the South, they do lead Dr. Copeland back to his sons. Before his revelation about activism, Dr. Copeland believed that intellect and education would save Black Americans. Now, he knows that only direct action can help the Black community. With his children back in his life, Dr. Copeland can try to form meaningful familial bonds. This is the silver lining of Copeland’s oppression—his injuries, sickness, and disillusionment reunite him with his children. He acquiesces to moving because he has no choice, but he maintains his desire to raise a call to action. However, he physically struggles to have his voice heard because of his sickness and a metaphorical inability to express himself. Still, there is hope for Copeland. His character development comes full circle: His opinions and relationships have changed, and he has the opportunity to start over.

In Part 3, Chapter 2, Jake is devastated by John’s death, but their friendship was based on Jake’s need to speak without being challenged. Jake wants to talk without interruption and believes that if someone isn’t arguing with him, it means that they understand him intimately. Without this perception (even if false) of an ally and companion, Jake is finished with the town. He returns to his nomadic lifestyle to find his next town, his next café-bar, his next version of John. Biff once again tries to give him help and advice; he gives Jake money for his journey though Jake is in debt to him. Jake is lucky to find people who tolerate him and are willing to overlook his flaws: His passionate speeches can come across as didactic and condescending, and this keeps him at a distance from the people in the community. Jake’s dream informs his lifestyle: He resolves to stay in the South preaching socialism no matter the South’s flaws, highlighting his loyalty to local change and his hope for the future.

In Part 3, Chapter 3, Mick finds herself transitioning from childhood into womanhood. At Biff’s café, she orders a beer and a milkshake, which symbolizes her developing identity: The milkshake represents the fun and freedom of childhood while the beer represents an embracing of more adult pleasures. Mick loves school but decides to keep her job at the department store. She wants to help her family but also feel some control over her life and maintain her goal of owning her own piano. She discovers that her friendship with John was good because it taught her that people communicate in different ways. She holds onto the memory of John by nurturing her dream to become a musician. This dream keeps Mick enduring the ups-and-downs of her adult responsibilities. Thus, Mick’s future is bright and hopeful, and her dream of pursuing music becomes the internal inspiration she needs to make sacrifices in her external world.

In Part 3, Chapter 4, Biff contemplates the questions that have nagged him since getting to know Jake and John. He realizes that he’s no longer attracted to Mick, which represents how her loss of youth reminds him of his own age and reality. With his attraction to Mick over, his friend John dead, and Jake on his way out, Biff returns to business as usual, but McCullers implies that Biff’s experiences with these three characters have permanently changed his understanding of himself in his world. Biff has an out-of-body experience in which he discovers the answer to his existential question: He realizes the meaning of life and companionship is love. Though the moment is fleeting, it changes Biff’s outlook on life and imparts McCullers’s message about the value of relationships.

John’s death proves how little his so-called friends knew him. They took his presence for granted and were not curious about his own life, nor did they try to learn how to communicate with him. Though the death is not their fault, it highlights that the one-sided relationship was formative for the four remaining characters, but not nearly influential enough to give John a reason to keep living. This is another lesson for McCullers’s readers: Pay attention to the people you love and nurture them as they nurture you.