“Then when he had washed the ashtray and the glass he brought out a pistol from his pocket and put a bullet in his chest” (McCullers 326).
I believe that this quote from The Heart is a Lonely Hunter displays what Carson McCullers really wanted the readers to know about Mr. Singer and how he felt/his relationship was with Antonapoulos. With this being said, it reveals an entire new side about how he felt and the relationship they had. Sure, we can tell that Mr. Singer was best friends with Antonapoulos based on the other points in the story, but to kill yourself; that is an entire new level. This made a very big impression on me because I don’t believe it was right of him to do this. I think in some way he was being selfish to the others by “leaving” or taking his own life and no longer making himself available when the others depended on him. I noticed that Mr. Singer connected better with Antonapoulos than anybody else in the story, and I believe he shot himself because he no longer wanted to live a life without him. Maybe he thought that if he died as well, he would then be reunited with Antonapoulos. But I would like to know his reason for killing himself. Why did he feel the need to do this horrible thing? What was he thinking?
I think you have a really good point here. Even after the ways Antonapoulos would treat Singer, you would never think that he would kill himself because he was so upset about it. I think he did it because he could no longer really communicate with anyone. Sure he could listen to everyones stories about the day and how they are feeling but he could rarely respond. Whenever he saw Antonapoulos, he would always move his hands so quickly and talk to him about everything. After Antonapoulos's death, Singer can no longer do this and all of his feelings are left inside of him.
ReplyDeleteThat line in particular made my heart beat faster. I was shocked, surprised, disappointed, and even appalled. When I saw that he actually killed himself, I was thrown off. Mr. Singer, who seemed to be the most mature, the most self contained person in the whole story, killed himself because his friend died? Seriously, what WAS he thinking?!
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading that line, I wanted Singer to survive. He was my favorite character in the novel, but in that particular moment I was shocked he would do such a thing. I never liked Antonapoulos, but then again Singer depended on him as much as the other characters depended on Singer. He may no longer appear in the novel, but I'm glad he continues to maintain his presence.
ReplyDeleteSo, Kristy, why do you think Singer killed himself? Why did he have to die?
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