Each of the characters holds their particular view about the world around them。 The relationship between them and their interaction with the surroundings is the central part of the novel。 McCullers attempts to fill each character with her deep commiseration and understanding。 Her characters are always looking for something new, and because of poverty, personal growth, or death, they are misled by those things。 These plot lines show us a vivid picture of the boundless effects of solitude and isolation。   

1。3 Literature Review

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter has gained much attention since its publication。 With her distinctive writing skills, McCullers lets readers observe the lives of the four main characters who are anxious, confused and lonely。 Numbers of researchers and scholars have studied and made comments on this novel。 

In general, critics agree that this novel not only goes into the most vulnerable states of humanity, but also has realistic significance。 Since the publication of this novel, American literary critics have engaged in a spirited debate about the theme of spiritual isolation in the novel。 The novel centers on people’s difficulties in communicating and understanding one another in America。 This aspect is even more significant nowadays, with the increasing technological state of the country causing more hindrance to healthy communication。 McCullers holds that: “spiritual isolation is the basis of most of [her] themes…people whose physical incapacity is a symbol of their spiritual incapacity to love or receive love – their spiritual isolation。” (McCullers, 1975:280) She claims that the theme of spiritual isolation is the basis of her first book, and even her entire selection of books。 She has a “strong perception (feeling) of humanity in all its fears and its loneliness” (Feld, 1940:6) and a “great sensitivity in describing the feelings of loneliness in both adults and teenagers” (Hart, 506)。 Louis Rubin explains in the essay “Carson McCullers: The Aesthetic of Pain” that: “The McCullers fiction, I believe, has its center a fundamental premise: which is, that solitude—loneliness—is a human constant, and cannot possibly be alleviated for very at a time。” and “The solitude is inevitable, and always painful。 Thus life is a matter of living in pain, and art is the portraying of anguish” (Louis 1977:270)。 These series of quotations show that many critics agree that McCullers’ portrayal of the isolation of mankind is an accurate depiction of reality。 文献综述

In the 1970s, we witnessed a high splurge of essays looking into the novel from different aspects。 The essay “Carson McCullers: The Heart Is a Timeless Hunter” written by Jake B。 Moore interprets that, in describing Mick’s experience, the novel acts as an initiation to McCullers’ adulthood and is employed using a fairytale-like pattern。 Critics like Moore debate about whether or not this novel is as realistic as McCullers’ other works。 Other critics, such as Nancy B。 Rich, think otherwise。 She regards The Heart is a Lonely Hunter as “a political parable on fascism”。 (Rich 1977:108) Nancy claims that the novel is a declaration against Fascism and World War I。 Additionally, feminist critics also have comments about the non-cliché portrayal of Mick, and they take note of the gender discrimination in the novel。 Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak is one of them。 

He regards this novel as a feminist work in his essay “A Feminist Reading: McCullers’ The Heart is a Lonely Hunter”。 Mick’s unequal treatment at work plays a large part in exposing readers to the inequality that women were faced with at work in those times。