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 be

gather for food, drink, and gossip. They would discuss Miss Amelia's love for

enjoys entertaining the townsfolk with his patently tall tales. In a short

he asks Miss Amelia to marry him. Miss Amelia does not love him but agrees to

very aloof towards her husband and refuses to engage in marital relations with

Cousin Lymon with food and board, and eventually any material object that he

Ever since Cousin Lymon's appearance, Miss Amelia would regularly wear a red

is wild, extravagant, and beautiful as the poison lillies of the swamp."

learns proper etiquette, such as "rising and giving his chair to a lady, and

different reasons, " A most mediocre person can be the object of a love which

ways to win Miss Amelia's love. Rather than robbing houses he begins attending

Amelia returns to her original reclusive style of living.

the mid 1930's, several years after Miss Amelia's divorce, Lymon, a hunchback,

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Approximate Word count = 663
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)