Carson McCullers : the tragedy of the grotesque

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Betsy Rogers (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Advisor
James Ellis

Abstract: The dark truth of human loneliness and spiritual isolation is the central theme of Carson McCullers. In each of her novels, the characters seek a way to break through the barrier of isolation and that condition which makes all people an I rather than a we. This perception of loneliness is an aspect of life that McCullers deems universal. In considering the theme of spiritual isolation in her novels, Oliver Evans observes that "the essential loneliness of the individual in a world full of other individuals as lonely as himself is a paradox which intrigued Carson McCullers from the first...."1 McCullers herself explicitly states her central theme in the foreword to one of her plays, The Square Root of Wonderful.

Additional Information

Publication
Honors Project
Language: English
Date: 1964

Email this document to