Deaf to Reason
“The rich thought he was rich and the poor considered him a poor man like themselves. And as there was no way to disprove these rumors they grew marvelous and very real. Each man described the mute as he wished him to be.” (McCullers, 223) With these words, Carson McCullers paints the vivid picture of a wrongly depicted man. John Singer is an uncomplicated individual, but to Biff Brandon, he is the mysterious figure who orders the same meal and sits in the same seat everyday in the middle of his pub. In the eyes of Doctor Copeland, he is an exoticly unusual white man with the attributes of a god. And to the two characters he interacts with the most, Jake Blount and Mick Kelley, Singer is something with the makings of a deity itself. But as the novel progresses, the read is introduced to the actual John Singer. He turns …show more content…
John Singer is a character that beautifully executes the lost man, as well as the hallowed man. He is trashed and treasured, he is picked apart although there is nothing left. His character is a destitute one that represents the worst kind of isolation one could have, which is self-inflicted.. He cannot prove to these people that he is much less than a god, therefore he cannot change in the minds of others, nor in his own. Things simply cannot end well for Singer, because he is an allegory that speaks to each reader in a very different way. To some, he is weak, to others, he is profound. Yet to all, he is tragic. Because the man is nothing he is made out to be; and that’s how mankind itself works. Role models turn out to be bad influences, Santa turns out to be someone’s neighbor with a fake beard on. This novel gets at this: nobody can perfect themselves, or anybody else in any case. And that is the source of every type of isolation, as well as the downfall of John
“The rich thought he was rich and the poor considered him a poor man like themselves. And as there was no way to disprove these rumors they grew marvelous and very real. Each man described the mute as he wished him to be.” (McCullers, 223) With these words, Carson McCullers paints the vivid picture of a wrongly depicted man. John Singer is an uncomplicated individual, but to Biff Brandon, he is the mysterious figure who orders the same meal and sits in the same seat everyday in the middle of his pub. In the eyes of Doctor Copeland, he is an exoticly unusual white man with the attributes of a god. And to the two characters he interacts with the most, Jake Blount and Mick Kelley, Singer is something with the makings of a deity itself. But as the novel progresses, the read is introduced to the actual John Singer. He turns …show more content…
John Singer is a character that beautifully executes the lost man, as well as the hallowed man. He is trashed and treasured, he is picked apart although there is nothing left. His character is a destitute one that represents the worst kind of isolation one could have, which is self-inflicted.. He cannot prove to these people that he is much less than a god, therefore he cannot change in the minds of others, nor in his own. Things simply cannot end well for Singer, because he is an allegory that speaks to each reader in a very different way. To some, he is weak, to others, he is profound. Yet to all, he is tragic. Because the man is nothing he is made out to be; and that’s how mankind itself works. Role models turn out to be bad influences, Santa turns out to be someone’s neighbor with a fake beard on. This novel gets at this: nobody can perfect themselves, or anybody else in any case. And that is the source of every type of isolation, as well as the downfall of John