The Heart is a Lonely Hunter Response

"Singer was bewildered. Always each othem had so much to say. Yet now that they were together they were silent. When they came in he had expected an outburst of some kind. In a vague way he had expected this to be the end of something. But in the room there was only a feeling of strain. His hands worked nervously as though they were pulling things unseen from the air and binding them together."

We discussed part of this passage yesterday in class but I wanted to give my full opinion on what I was interpreting from the reading. This I think says a lot about the relationships and connections between the characters. It is clear that Singer is very uncomfortable in the situation. It says a lot about how he directly feels about the characters...in that he doesn't truely favor all of them, or care enough specifically about one person. The only person he cares enough to share his feelings about is Anatopoulous. We see this by the amount of presents he sends to him as well as the fact that he decides to write a letter to him. However, the other characters feel that they have a stronger connection with Singer, because they look at him to say something....but he doesn't. It is also interesting to see that even though they are all connected to the same person, they can't build connections with each other. I think Singer feels like they should be able to since they all have so much to say in general. But I think McCuller's is trying to show that it is difficult to make connections and that it is honestly not always reciprocated back. I also feel that the characters are selfish...because they always put their needs on Singer, and in a way they use him to relieve themselves from their "inside world."

-Lena