The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
The Heart is a Lonely HunterThe Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter is set in a small Southern town in the late 1950’s about characters who are lonely and rejected. Their lives intertwine in a search for friendship and understanding. These characters all encounter a deaf-mute man, and all in good time, call him a dummy and treat him with prejudice. However, once they get to know him, they all find solace in his company. Many of the characters have a need to be understood, however; none of them ever truly are.
Prejudice was an ongoing problem in the late 1950s, so most of he people were intolerant and discriminatory to people who were unalike themselves; included in this group are the characters who turn to Singer for help. When they first encounter Mr. Singer, they blatantly display their feelings of prejudice. When Jake Blount first realized he was deaf-mute, he stated, “I didn’t know you was a dummy, and all this time I though you were a good listener. Wow, I must have really been drunk.” Prejudice also comes from a well-educated doctor, who says to him, “I’m glad you can’t talk”, and other prejudiced comments.
One of the characters in the novel, Jake Blount, searches for a sympathetic ear. He appears in a cafe drunk and rowdy talking to everyone and no one. He constantly talks to everyone hoping someone will take the time to really listen and understand. His words come out as though a dam inside him had broken. Ironically, the one he thinks understands him is a deaf-mute named John Singer. Singer, ignorant to what is going on, is the only one who treats Jake with respect and dignity.
Racial discrimination was also a large problem during this time period. The unfair situation of a black man in the 1950’s is exemplified in this book by a character named Dr. Copeland. Dr. Copeland endured the racism and injustice that was widespread practices across the United States, especially in the South. Although this black physician did not hold a great deal of respect for the whites much, he saw something good and decent in John Singer. Realizing that both society and government had turned their backs on his people, Dr. Copeland looked to a deaf-mute for answers, and was able to find genuine happiness and satisfaction.
These characters think they find a solution in Singer, a deaf-mute who really does not know what is going on. John Singer is just another character who feels a need for understanding. He is a deaf-mute that everyone else seems to turn to when they need to vent their feelings. Singer does not communicate often unless by pen and usually watches what everyone else has to say. His deaf-mute friend, Antonapoulos, seems to be the only person who he can really “talk” to even though he does not quite comprehend everything Singer tells him. Singer and Antonapoulos have been friends for years and although Antonapoulos does not attempt to communicate with Singer unless he is hungry or sleepy, Singer continues to tell him everything that is on his mind.
All of these characters are fascinated by John Singer’s apparent serenity and spirit in such a depressing and stressful world. Seeking wisdom and happiness, these characters are intrigued by this disabled man, and each forms his own special bond with him. As these characters spend increasingly more time with John, they are able to find answers to their problems, but selfishly only continue to visit him, because he serves as a solution to their loneliness. In the end John Singer is the only character left unhappy, and when he learns that his best friend in the mental institution has died, life itself becomes meaningless, driving him to commit suicide.
This was a very honest film and told the facts of life as they are, even if they are not fair. When the film began, I could not understand what idea was trying to be articulated. However, when I saw that all the characters’ problems had been solved but Mr. Singer’s, I realized what it was. It is that not everyone is able to find happiness in his or her life, and this movie shows how one man can change so many peoples sadness’, yet not be able to change his own. The end of the movie was when I genuinely started to enjoy the movie. I just wish that it could have ended better, but then the whole purpose of the story would have been meaningless.