4. “An individual’s compulsion to revolt against enforced isolation.” – McCullers on the theme of The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
5.
6. One-sided Love In “The Ballad of the Sad Café”, Amelia Evans, Marvin Macy, and Cousin Lymon are all participants in a one-sided love triangle. Each of Singer’s four confidants have a one-sided infatuation for him. Singer himself has a one-sided love for his companion, Spiros Antonapoulos.
7. Influences from her Life “I knew there was a marvelous party going on, but I couldn’t get in.” – McCullers on passing a Catholic church as a child. (“The Flowering Dream”, 274) McCullers was actively discouraged from seeking friendships outside of the family home. The Ballad of the Sad Café was written at a time in her life when she was dealing with the stress of an estranged husband with a male lover and her own unrequited love for a woman.
