The Heart is a Lonely Hunter Reading Response

You Never See it Coming.

McCullers's book The Heart is Lonely Hunter is truly unique. I have never read something quite like it. Her style is very bold and sharp. The way she writes about the unspoken issues within the self has emerged through her choice of characters. But something else did strike me while reading. Every time there was a big event coming up, she would lead up to it very sneakily. The way she writes is like she is singing a lullaby or simply describing the scenery. Not once did I expect any of the major events that happened, and for example: Bubber shooting Baby. The whole time I was reading, all I could think about was that I was reading about a bunch of little kids playing around in the neighborhood. Yes, the idea of them playing around with a weapon was a little odd, but the way McCullers smoothly put her words together made it seem OK. Then she went on describing Bubber's dreamy and bubbly thoughts about Baby's costume, so I started imagining pretty things like the color of pink and the sight of rainbows and Baby's beautiful golden curls. Then suddenly, "he was too quick for Mick to stop him. She had seen his hand on the trigger when there was the terrible ping of the gun"(McCullers 167). Boom, Baby was shot. I just find it very clever how the author injects those surprises in small doses, yet their effects are huge throughout the story because everything becomes based on what had just happened. It is truly very clever and I enjoyed that aspect of her writing, because she knew exactly how to add the surprise factor.

- Sara Benrazek