Abstract: The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter is one of the representative works of Carson McCullers’, a 20-century writer. The work tells a story about a group of people dangling in loneliness in a small town in American South. McCullers’ works are characterized with a strong Gothic color, which seems absurd but effectively shapes the lives and destinies of the characters in unique ways. The paper analyzes Gothic features in the novel from the three aspects of major characters, theme and plots, where Gothic writing is usually the most commonly applied. It is intended to explore how Gothic style of writing is used and what significance it has given to the novel, both literary significance and realistic significance.

Key words: The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter; loneliness; Gothic style

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

1. Introduction-1

1.1 The Author and the novel-1

1.2 The Theme of the Paper-2

1.3 Previous Studies-3

2. Gothic Novels as a Genre of Literature-4

2.1 The Concept of Gothic Novel-4

2.2 Development of Gothic Novels-5

3. Analysis of Gothic Features in The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter-6

3.1 Major Characters-6

3.2 The Theme-10

3.3 Plots-12

4. The Effects and Significance of the Gothic Style of Writing-14

4.1 The Literary Effects of Gothic Features in The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter-14

4.2 The Realistic Significance of the Gothic Novel-15

5. Conclusion-17

References-18