"For in a swift radiance of illumination he saw a glimpse of human struggle and of valor. Of the endless fluid passage of humanity through endless time. And of those who labor and of those who- one word - love. His soul expanded." (McCullers, 306)
Through this quote, McCullers bring in a sudden source of light. Through out the book, with unfortunate events, the atmosphere of the book has stayed almost depressing. However, with this quote, McCullers suggest that with every glimpse of darkness, there is a source of light. The quote is said by Biff Brannon as he recognizes the "human struggle and valor". This encorporates the idea that human struggle is an ongoing process that has became part of the human nature. The struggle represents the difficult times all the characters in the book went through. One after another, each character suffered mental trauma due to some sort of event. These events, however, only served to make them stronger and prepared enough for the next test of life. The word "endless" in the quote evidently portrays the humanity and its struggles and issues that have been part of the world since the beginning. The larger theme that is brought up in this quote is that not every individual is perfect. Looking at all the characters, Mick's family suffers from poverty, Biff himself lost a loved one, Singer is lonely, and the list goes on. With hardtimes being part of life, life cannot be perfect for anyone. There are obstacles one must face because that is what life has been portrayed has since the beginning of the world.
With the reference to "love" in the quote, Biff portrays his own situation as he lost Alice. Furthermore, the word "labor" represents his own situation as well as all the other characters in the book as they struggled to labor and fight the situations to the best of their abilities. The reference to the expansion of soul is a phrase that illustrates the rise of hope in Biff. McCuller's purpose in this quote was to remind the people that with the difficult situations, there are always solutions and one must struggle to earn it. Hope remains a factor for struggling for life. Thus, McCuller's perspective upon hope is represnted through Biff's insight.
Uroosa, you chose one of my favorite quotes in the book. It is just so loaded, and really, it's about what so much of the book is about, in just a couple of little lines. I love this line especially when you put it with the line that comes right after it, about the darkness.
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