The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

by

Carson McCullers

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The Heart is a Lonely Hunter: Part 1, Chapter 4 Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
Jake Blount wakes up in the middle of the afternoon confused by his strange surroundings—but comforted by the sight of John Singer sitting at a chessboard in the corner of the room. Memories of the night before slowly begin coming back to Jake as he drinks some water and dresses himself. At the sight of his suitcase, he recalls even more. Singer writes Jake a note explaining that he is deaf and mute.
Jake Blount’s loneliness and despair from the night before are somewhat ameliorated by Singer’s kindness and generosity. 
Themes
Loneliness and Isolation Theme Icon
Communication and Self-Expression Theme Icon
Singer produces a tin of snacks—crackers, cheese, and oranges—and shares it with Jake. As the two men sip coffee, Jake asks Singer if he’s the only deaf man in town—and if he finds being the only one lonesome. Singer responds with an ambiguous shake of the head. Jake stands to leave, asking if he can keep his suitcase under Singer’s bed for a few days. Singer writes a note offering to put a mattress on the floor for Jake for a few days, but Jake refuses, explaining that he already has a place to stay. As Jake gets ready to leave, Singer hands him his dirty overalls from the night before.
Though Jake senses the fundamental loneliness Singer must experience, Singer isn’t interested in sharing much about himself or his feelings. His private, quiet nature stands in stark contrast to the ways in which his companions openly vent their thoughts, fears, and frustrations throughout the novel.
Themes
Loneliness and Isolation Theme Icon
Communication and Self-Expression Theme Icon
The Individual vs. Society Theme Icon
Jake heads downstairs, asking a tomboyish girl sitting on the stairs if she knows where he can throw away his dirty overalls. Mick leads him to an alley at the back of the house, where two black men are sitting on the steps. Upon seeing them, Mick calls through the kitchen window to Portia, telling her that Highboy and Willie are outside waiting for her. Jake throws his overalls away, and Portia comes outside. Jake asks how to get to Main Street, and Portia tells him to follow her, Highboy, and Willie there. He follows them down the road for a while, listening as they make their plans for the evening—Portia wants to go to church and then visit her father.
Jake Blount throws away his dirtied, bloodied overalls. He is clearly ashamed of his behavior the night before—and, ostensibly, his behavior over the last several days. Blount wants to make a new start, and as he connects with Mick and Portia, he takes an early step towards getting to know the people in his community.
Themes
Loneliness and Isolation Theme Icon
The Individual vs. Society Theme Icon
Jake picks up a paper from the fruit and candy store on Main Street and looks through the Help-Wanted ads. He finds an ad for a mechanic to work at an amusement park called the Sunny Dixie Show, and makes a mental note to go down and apply for the job. Jake decides to stop in at the New York Café and see Biff Brannon. He’s embarrassed to confront the man, but knows he has to pay his tab. Inside, Jake asks Biff how much he owes him, and Biff replies that Jake is in the hole for 20 dollars. Jake promises Biff that he’ll pay him back in time. Jake tells Biff he’s planning on looking for work at Sunny Dixie, and Biff tells Jake that it’d be a good idea to do so.
Jake’s embarrassment is still palpable in this passage as he goes through his day. He wants to make amends for his actions and get on a path to self-sufficiency—but he is still dependent on the kindness of strangers as he tries to get his life back on track.
Themes
Loneliness and Isolation Theme Icon
The Individual vs. Society Theme Icon
The American South Theme Icon
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Jake walks through the streets of town, passing through poor mill districts on his way to the abandoned lot where the Sunny Dixie park is set up. Upon arriving, he finds the manager and asks about the available job. The manager, Patterson, asks what Jake’s experience as a mechanic is, and Jake tells him about jobs he’s had in the past. Patterson shows Jake to the flying-jinny—another term for a kind of carousel—and tells him that if he takes the job, he’ll be responsible not just for the maintenance of the machine but for controlling the crowds who try to sneak on without tickets. Patterson tells Jake that he needs to keep a close eye on black customers especially. Jake accepts the demands of the job, and Patterson tells him he’ll start work tomorrow afternoon.
Jake’s search for work at the Sunny Dixie Show—a place whose name romanticizes the South as a bright, happy place—exposes McCullers’s readers to the rampant racism and willful amnesia about the South’s true past that pervades the entire region. The South is a place full of poverty, prejudice, and division, but its institutions of entertainment and tourism aim to gloss over or erase these facts.
Themes
Racism, Inequality, and Injustice Theme Icon
The Individual vs. Society Theme Icon
The American South Theme Icon
Jake wanders through the streets of town talking to himself. He feels lonesome, and longs for the company of John Singer—a fact he finds odd, considering Singer can’t really talk back to him. Jake makes his way home through a poor mill neighborhood. He approaches some men sitting on the porch of a house and tells them he wants to share the “Gospel” with them. The men tell Jake to go tell his Gospel at a revival tent, but Jake insists he has a different kind of news to share. Jake begins venting to the mill workers about the evils and injustices of capitalism, asking them if they’re angry to be working for the “bastard” billionaires who own the mills and pay workers paltry sums. The men laugh at Jake. Jake curses them and continues walking on. 
Jake knows that society’s problems are rooted in unfairness and injustice—but his attempts to galvanize poor workers fail. Ordinary people’s everyday lives are too hard and too unstable to risk making worse by taking action against unseen economic and political forces. Jake, however, is only concerned with spreading his message—even if it falls on ears unable to process or use the information they’re receiving. Jake’s inability to clearly express his ideals to people who truly hear, understand, and support him is his character’s central struggle.
Themes
Loneliness and Isolation Theme Icon
Communication and Self-Expression Theme Icon
Racism, Inequality, and Injustice Theme Icon
The Individual vs. Society Theme Icon
The American South Theme Icon
Quotes
Jake returns to the boarding house to find Singer sitting at his chessboard. Jake sits down with Singer and tells him that in spite of a hard afternoon, he’s managed to secure a job. Singer brings out some wine and two glasses from his closet, and the men share a drink. The alcohol loosens Jake up, and he begins talking to Singer about himself. He tells Singer that while he’s an educated man, studying only makes him mad. He’s amassed a lot of knowledge but can’t make others understand the things he’s learned. All that’s left for him to do, he feels, is “get drunk.”
In this passage, Singer articulates the difficulty he had in the last scene—he knows that he’s unable to get people to understand or appreciate his message, and yet he refuses to stop trying to motivate and galvanize his fellow southerners and fellow workers.
Themes
Communication and Self-Expression Theme Icon
Racism, Inequality, and Injustice Theme Icon
The Individual vs. Society Theme Icon
Singer, who has been eyeing Jake with “patient interest,” takes out his pad and pen and writes a note. He passes it across the table to Jake. Jake looks at the note, which asks if he is a Democrat or a Republican, but he has become so drunk and angry that he can barely absorb the words. Jake crumples the note in his hand, looks at Singer, and tells him that he’s one of the only people who understands him. Later that night, after the men have polished off the rest of the wine, Singer unrolls a mattress on the floor. Jake lies down on it and falls asleep almost instantly. 
Even though Singer very clearly doesn’t yet understand Blount’s political message, Blount nonetheless feels that his words have been internalized and validated by Singer. This strange effect will ripple throughout the novel as people continue to seek validation from Singer—even when they only really care about the illusion of such understanding.
Themes
Loneliness and Isolation Theme Icon
Communication and Self-Expression Theme Icon
The Individual vs. Society Theme Icon