A Lonely Hunter

“The heart is a lonely hunter with only one desire! To find some lasting comfort in the arms of another’s fire … driven by a desperate hunger to the arms of a neon light, the heart is a lonely hunter when there’s no sign of love in sight!”

-- Carson McCullers (1917-1967), author, "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter"

I think it was my freshman year in high school when I was assigned to read an American classic of my choosing, but not be a genre I would normally lean toward.  We were tasked to broaden our horizons.  Oh, joy!  I went totally off the rails and chose "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter," a 1940 first novel by a young Carson McCullers.  If you haven't read it, or been treated to the 1968 film adaptation, starring Alan Arkin, and debuting Sondra Locke, you should do either but if you love to read, get the book.

My critique of those who critique comes with some evidence. Taylor Jasmine wrote a review of the film for the Literary Ladies Guide in 1997:

Strong performances, especially by Alan Arkin as Singer and Sondra Locke as Mick (her film debut) earned them both Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations — for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress, respectively. The film received numerous other nominations and awards, and was generally favorably reviewed.

Still, the film fails to capture the sweep and emotional impact of the book, so I’d recommend reading it before considering the film.

For those of us who understood it, or read the book first, it was excellent.  And, yes, as usual, and despite efforts to render a "faithful adaptation," the film "fails to capture the sweep and emotional impact of the book."  Taylor included the review of the film written by Frank Daley of the Ottawa Journal, Friday, October 4, 1968.  I've included excerpts from that review:

Alan Arkin plays a deaf-mute named Singer in a small southern town. He has moved there so that he could be near another deaf-mute who is in the hospital. The film is a rambling story of how John Singer meets the Kelly family with whom he boards as well as several other respected and not-so-respected members of the community.

Singer is desperately alone in his silent world and as he makes his way during his time in the town he touches many people’s lives momentarily and always for the better, but he never succeeds in establishing enough rapport with anyone so that then can help him when he needs solace.

Okay?  Ready for his critique?  The following would explain the nomination for "Best Actor," I suppose:

Alan Arkin displays a marvelous sense for the quiet moment; he is particularly adept at indicating the loneliness of a man unwilling and unable to shout to the people he is helping that he needs help more than they.

  And, this would explain him getting just the nomination:

Sometimes Arkin uses mannerisms that seem too restricted for the character. Because a man cannot speak must he be impoverished in action?

And this last leaves me confused as to why the film received so many other nominations:

Direction by Robert Ellis Miller is never quite tight enough; there is always a flaccid feeling to the scenes and this combined wit the speciousness of some of the scenes involving the peripheral characters makes The Heart is a Lonely Hunter a weaker film dramatically than it might have been.

Remember what Taylor Jasmine wrote, above?  "Strong performances, especially by Alan Arkin as Singer and Sondra Locke as Mick (her film debut) earned them both Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations — for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress, respectively. The film received numerous other nominations and awards, and was generally favorably reviewed."  And, then, Frank Daly politely rakes it over the coals.  Frank, how many movies have you seen that try to depict a "faithful adaptation" and actually end up being better than the book?  Uh-huh.

But I think I enjoyed book and movie so much because I identify with the character of Singer.  Frank Daly doesent seem to identify as well:  "Because a man cannot speak must he be impoverished in action?"  Depends on what personal hell a man's been through, Frank.  Have you walked a mile in that man's shoes?  Have you not read your own critique?  To refresh your memory, he is "desperately alone" and he possesses "the loneliness of a man unwilling and unable to shout to the people he is helping that he needs help more than they."  And yet, he helps others.  How sad is that, you sanctimonious critic?  Have I said how much I dislike critics?

As for me, I heard reality in Singer's letter to his hospitalized friend, Antonapoulos, “The way I need you is a loneliness I cannot bear.”  But, the sentiment was incomplete until you read further, "I am not meant to be alone without you who understand."  Singer is surrounded by strangers.  In his mind, he sees himself a stranger in a strange land, surrounded by people who don't know him, don't understand him, or won't take the time to.

Don't believe everything you read from a critic.  What you personally enjoy, or understand, is money well spent.  Critics, paid or not, spew opinions like they deserve to be believed.  Kind of like network news, the Times, or the Post.  Be smarter than those around you and separate someone else's "truth" from the facts.  Find support for your own truth.

Our sense of confusion and loss may not be anchored in this reality.  We may be feeling the haunting emotion of lives past.  Someone we loved and lost.  Perhaps a sense of guilt for not being able to save them; a failure of our sense of responsibility to them.  Love transcends time and space; it transcends even death.

The heart is truly a lonely hunter.  What one person finds temporarily amusing, another cannot envision living without.  Some have a need to find their heart's desire; to find it, and then keep on finding it, each and every life, so they can hold it, and hold it again; to quench the need, the sense of loneliness, they cannot bear.

The heart is only a lonely hunter until the hunt is done.

Editor's Note

(Re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider an alternate viewpoint. 

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and while engaging in peaceful and constructive discussion, in an arena of mutual respect, concerning those opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we learn from the experience, and what we do afterward.

Pastor Tony spent 22 years with United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and senior manager. He spent 17 years, following his service career, working with the premier, world renowned, Institutional Review Board helping to protect the rights of human subjects involved in pharmaceutical research. Ordained 1n 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As the weapon for his war on intolerance he chose the pen, and wages his "battle" in the guise of the Congregation's official online blog, The Path, of which he is both author and editor. "The Path" offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He currently resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteers as lead Chaplain and Chaplain Program Liaison, at the regional medical center.