The Great Depression Summarized By Marxism In Carson Mc Cullers Novel, The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter

1076 words - 5 pages

Marxism, a system of economic and political thought determined by Karl Marx, argues the owners, or capitalists, exploit the workers. This theory suggests that the class struggle has been the main agency of historical change, and supports a socialist order and a classless society. Carson McCullers novel, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, features Marxism to summarize the period of the Great Depression in an American Society. McCullers includes characters that represent working-class white-men, the generation coming of age, and a black man and woman. These characters represent different social groups in the South in the 1930s but still retain their individuality. The perspectives of the ...view middle of the document...

" He asks them, "don't it make you mad? don't it?" The men laugh at him and he goes on his way, angry and frustrated at their ignorance (McCullers 79). This passage proves that although Blount is lonely, he is not searching for a friend; he is merely searching for an audience. His deepest goal is to end the ignorance of the working-class, inform people of the ideology in which they are living, and fix their society with Marxism. In Marxist terms, the mill owners represent the Bourgeoisie: those who own the means of production and buy labor power from the proletariat. As for Dr. Copeland, although he is not in the same class as Blount, he still agrees that the nation's workforce is misused. Later in the novel, while Blount rants about the impoverished and ignorant workforce, Copeland adds, “We have been over all this before, but it is impossible to see the full situation without including us Negroes" (McCullers 337). This excerpt displays how Copeland is constantly trying to inform people of the mistreated black community. Dr. Copeland is in accordance with Blount's views, but he believes that the only way to improve the lives of just one deprived group is to reconstruct the corrupted nation as a whole.
Blount and Copeland believe that a Marxist society would resolve the ignorance of racial minority groups. Dr. Copeland feels a constant frustration with the ignorance of African-Americans and their obligated acceptance of their inferior position in society. This idea directly correlates to Blount's frustration with the naive lower-class workers. Dr. Copeland is an African-American man who devotes his life to improving the lives of people in the black community and ending their inequality. Copeland earned his education in the North, and later returns to the South to put his hard work to use among the underprivileged blacks. As previously mentioned, Dr. Copeland's goal is to break the cycle of despair and earn justice for African-Americans. He tries his best to communicate his Marxist ideas to the black community. Copeland argues that although they are "not put up on platforms and sold at the courthouse square", they are forced to "sell [their] strength, [their]...

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