The Ballad Of The Sad Cafe: Love And Attraction
The Ballad of the Sad Cafe: Love and Attraction
The Ballad of the Sad Cafe by Carson McCullers is a story of love
illustrated through the romantic longings and attractions of the three
eccentric characters; Miss Amelia, Cousin Lymon, and Marvin Macy. McCullers
depicts love as a force, often strong enough to change people's attitudes and
behaviors. Yet, the author seems to say, if the love is unrequited,
individuals, having lost their motivation to change, will revert back to their
true selves. The allure of the different characters, which is never revealed by
the author, seems to indicate that feelings of love and attraction are not
necessarily reasonable or understandable to others.
Miss Amelia is self-reliant, outspoken and very much a loner. She
stands six foot one inch tall and has a strong, masculine build. Her grey eyes
are crossed, and the rest of her features are equally unattractive. Yet, the
people of the small, southern town of Cheehaw accept her quirkiness because of
the equisite wine that she sells in her store and for her free doctoring and
homemade remedies. Still, everyone is shocked when the handsome outlaw,
Marvin Macy, falls in love with her.
Marvin is a "bold, fearless, and cruel" man who changes his unlawful
ways to win Miss Amelia's love. Rather than robbing houses he begins attending
church services on Sunday mornings. In an effort to court Miss Amelia, he
learns proper etiquette, such as "rising and giving his chair to a lady, and
abstaining from swearing and fighting". Two years after Marvin's reformation,
he asks Miss Amelia to marry him. Miss Amelia does not love him but agrees to
the marriage in order to satisfy her great-aunt. Once married, Miss Amelia is
very aloof towards her husband and refuses to engage in marital relations with
him. After ten days, Miss...
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