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Part 2, Chapter 15
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Loneliness and Isolation
Communication and Self-Expression
Racism, Inequality, and Injustice
The Individual vs. Society
The American South
Summary
Analysis
It is the morning of August 21st, 1939. Doctor Copeland sits in his bare kitchen wrapped in a gray shawl. Most of his furniture has been moved to Portia’s house—everything is ready for his move to Grandpapa’s farm “except his own mind.” Portia tells Copeland it’s time for him to go, but Doctor Copeland refuses to be rushed. Portia goes out to the hall, and her grandfather warns her that if they wait much longer, their journey will last into the night.
Several weeks after Singer’s death, it’s clear that things in town have changed—and that his visitors’ lives have deteriorated. Without Singer—and with the added stress of decaying race relations in town, as portended by the argument between Blount and Copeland—Copeland’s health has atrophied, and he is, however reluctantly, giving up and leaving town.
Themes
Copeland ignores the voices in the hall and sips his coffee slowly. He hears many voices in his head—the voices of Spinoza, of Karl Marx, of his “grief-bound” people, and, strangely, of Singer. As Copeland reflects on his tattered relationships with his own children and the children throughout the community who have been named after him, he wonders who will carry on the mission to which he has devoted his life. He has tried to live a purposeful, meaningful life—but now wonders what the value of all his days truly has been.
Copeland doesn’t want to abandon his mission and leave his people behind, but he is utterly physically and spiritually defeated. This passage implies that Singer’s death has shaken Copeland to his core—it was, perhaps, the final blow that necessitated Copeland’s departure from town in order to recover.
Themes
Portia comes back into the kitchen and begins putting on her father’s socks and shoes. Copeland asks why Portia is forcibly removing him from his house and sending him to live on her grandfather’s farm. Portia reminds Copeland that in order to get well, he needs to let others take care of him. Copeland insists that he would have been able to recover better in his own house. Portia asks her father why he is “determined to grieve”—Copeland tells her he feels he has failed. Portia says that many other people are grieving Singer. Copeland urges Portia to be quiet—but privately thinks of how powerfully the loss of Singer has hit him.
Copeland doesn’t want to leave his home—even though he knows he must. He continues fighting up until the last minute, even as he realizes that he’s too physically and emotionally weak to do anything to resist his daughter’s plan for him. Portia’s comment that other people are also grieving Singer might have been a sign for Copeland that he’s not alone, but notably, he doesn’t take it that way; he just sees her words as a reminder of his isolation.
Themes
Copeland also regrets the horrible, angry feelings he’s been wrestling with since his argument with Blount. Now, in the midst of his grief, he can’t even remember what they were fighting about. His anger is also stoked by his grief over what happened to Willie—his twinned love for his people and hatred of their oppression has been wearing on him. At last, Copeland stands up and asks Portia to fetch his coat for him—he is ready to leave.
Copeland’s feelings of loss and defeat are intense—but he knows that there’s nothing to be done about them now. It’s almost as if without Singer in his life, Copeland feels unable to handle or sort through these problems alone—and as the third part of the novel progresses, McCullers will show how this is the case for all of Singer’s devoted visitors.
Themes
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Outside, Copeland stares at his automobile, which is full of boxes of books, medical files, and his office furniture. Grandpapa has brought his ancient old mule, and it is pulling an empty cart. Karl Marx, Highboy, Portia, and Willie crowd into the automobile and attempt to get Copeland squeezed in too, but he says that he would rather ride in the mule’s cart. Karl Marx warns Copeland that the journey will be bumpy and long, but Copeland retorts that he’s ridden wagons before.
Copeland’s desire to ride in the bumpy, uncomfortable wagon rather than his own automobile suggests he sees the journey as a kind of penance or test. He wants to isolate himself from comfort and ease either out of grief, shame, or defiance.
Themes
Copeland climbs into the wagon, and Grandpapa tells him that he is very glad to welcome him back into the fold of the family. Doctor Copeland insists that after a month or so, he’ll be back in town. Grandpapa says that as long as their family sticks together, struggles alongside one another, and helps each other out, some day they will earn “a reward in the Beyond.” Copeland scoffs and says what he wants is justice while he lives. Copeland feels motivated to speak the fire in his heart to his father-in-law—but he notices that the old man is not listening to him anymore and is instead focused on getting his old mule to start the long journey home.
Doctor Copeland has been welcomed back into his father-in-law’s life in spite of his transgressions against Daisy, Grandpapa’s daughter. Though Grandpapa cites religion as the reason for his forgiveness, Copeland scoffs at the man’s words. Doctor Copeland has come to learn just how futile it is to try to galvanize someone to support an ideal, a message, or a dream through speech alone. Meanwhile, Grandpapa’s focus on simply getting home is reinforces the idea that for black people in the Deep South, the necessities of simple survival often interfere with larger struggles for justice.
Themes
