A Study Of The Theme Of Solitude In Carson Mccullers Novels

Since the beginning of the20th century, great social and economictransformations have taken place in the world. Fierce competition andcommercialization brought human much pressure. Human in the pursuit of moreinterests and higher social status that ultimately shakes the traditional life style andcultural values. The trust and faith is being destroyed and sincere communication isbecoming more difficult in modern society. Therefore, people tend to isolatethemselves from the outer world which inevitably results in spiritual isolation andsolitude. Solitude has become a universal theme for the writers in the20th century,especially to the writers in the Southern States in the USA.With the rapid development of social progress and material civilization,industrialization inevitably invades the conservative American south area. Southernersfeel more solitary in the endless struggle between the cracks of traditional moralityand realism. As an important southern writer Carson McCullers spares no effort toexplore the solitude in people’s heart and write down the solitude in her works.Almost all of her novels are permeated with such a theme: people in society willalways be detained in a solitary state but trying to break through this solitude in vain.With the development of society, people discover that God is not omnipotent, so moreand more people abandon God, trying to find a new path of self-salvation. However,the reality is often contrary to people’s wishes. The people without the reliance ofGod feel lost and fall into spiritual isolation. Therefore, confusion and solitaryemotion distress each person who has fallen into faith crisis. McCullers novelprofoundly reveals the social reality in the beginning of20th century that peoplefacing with the corruption of traditional American values, trapped in solitaryconfusion, can’t get self-salvation..Carson McCullers suffers from unhappy marriage and miserable illness. So it’shard for her to get rid of the shadow of depression and solitude. Based on her specialunderstanding and feelings about life, she finds the themes such as spiritual isolation,solitude and alienation are easy to handle. The background of her novels mostly in thesmall southern town reveals the innermost world of solitary people and the reality thatpeople have difficulties in communicating and understanding one another. Her masterpieces include The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, Reflection in a Golden Eye, TheBallad of the Sad Café and The Member of the Wedding. Among all her works, TheHeart is a Lonely Hunter and The Ballad of the Sad Café are the representatives.Solitude is the perpetual theme of McCullers’ novels. Because of the specifichistorical period in which she was living and her special life experience, McCullers’comprehension and experience in insulation and solitude were deeper than anyone. Inher works, everything should abdicate to and work for the theme of solitude. Thisthesis focuses on her two typical novels The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter and The Balladof the Sad Café. Based on the text of the novels and starting from the motives ofcreation, this thesis intends to study the solitude theme of the two novels.Introduction covers the background of the creation of this novel and the researchthat has already done on her works as well as the purpose and significance of thethesis.Chapter one focuses on the reasons of the author in persistently presenting thetheme from the writer’s life experience and American social background to makefurther analysis in the light of Erich Fromm’s social psychological theory. CarsonMcCullers’ series of her novels are fraught with the characters that are spirituallyisolated and solitary. Through the trace of her life and close looking at the literarytradition and social background and other related factors, we may easily find thereason.Chapter two makes further analysis of the reflection of solitude theme from theplots and novel elements in her two masterpieces The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter andThe Ballad of the Sad Café to probe the causes that account for the inevitability ofsolitude. The first cause is the failure of finding God’s love and the second one is theinability of love and the last reason is the alienation of family affection.Chapter three intends to analyze the writer’s unique approaches to presentsolitude. She makes use of special musical structure and different focus modes toreveal the theme of solitude and spiritual isolation in a lively way. Conclusionsummarizes the whole thesis and demonstrates the inevitability of the characters’solitude and spiritual isolation and profound significance to face and get rid ofsolitude in modern society. By the delving into the causes and manifestation of solitude in McCullers’ tworepresentative novels The Heart is a Lonely Hunter and The Ballad of the Sad Café,the thesis intends to demonstrate the inevitability of the character’s failure ofcommunication, spiritual isolation and the violence prevalent in the modem society.Each person is incomplete, selfish, uncommunicative, immature, sexually frustratedand essentially alienated from their society. However, a concurrent emphasis is placedon the accurate social depiction of these characters. No communication can existwhen people are self-centered. But a society composed of such individual parts willdrive man further into himself．Therefore, only through interpersonal communicationand coordinate with other people in the pursuit of better spiritual world can createharmonious society.In summary, the solitude theme in McCullers’ works has practical guidingsignificance in the real life. With this to demonstrate that Carson McCullers is aspecial spokesman in modern literary history.