Narrative focus in The Heart is a Lonely Hunter The Heart is a Lonely Hunter is the first book written by Carson McCullers. In his book, McCullers traces the dynamics that occur between Singer and the other four protagonists: Biff Brennon, Jake Blount, Doctor Copeland and Mick Kelly. In explaining how these characters relate to Singer, McCullers also develops and analyzes each character's personality through the eyes of a third-person narrator. However, as argued by Professor Nicole Seymour in her article “Carson McCullers: The Heart is a Lonely Hunter,” the third-person narrator often becomes a first-person narrator who provides a “focused perspective” of each character (3). This narrative device is technically called “narrative focus,” which involves using or excluding information depending on what the character knows through specific language that reflects his or her delicacies (Seymour 3). The use of narrative focus is particularly evident in the chapter in which McCullers analyzes the character of Mick. Instead of showing the transition from innocence to experience through narrative focus, McCullers shows how innocence and experience coexist in the same character. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay Mick Kelly is a thirteen-year-old girl who is obsessed with music and usually spends her time alone. He is the fourth character introduced in the book, after Singer, Antonapoulos and Biff, and the first in which narrative focus is evident. In fact, as soon as it is introduced, the language used by the third narrator changes. While in the previous passage about Biff, McCullers uses the terms “the morning light” to refer to the sun, in the passage about Mick he uses the word “sun” (33). Here the narrator uses the most common word to emphasize that Mick, being so young, does not have the refined vocabulary typical of an adult person. Likewise, the narrator says, she "stayed out late," instead of simply saying very or extremely late to emphasize Mick's Southern vocabulary. Then, the narrator uses the informal expression “making a mess” to explain that she didn't have any activities planned for that specific moment (9). This informal expression is used to emphasize the Southern dialect used in the previous sentence. In the same paragraph, the use of a mix of informal and regional vocabulary helps the narrator shape the character's personality. Furthermore, the narrator refers to the comic as “funny” and uses the word “dad” instead of father (9). The extensive use of childish language highlights the youth and innocence that characterizes Mick's age. In these first pages in which Mick is introduced, the narrator has combined most of the elements that will characterize her character throughout the entire story. However, Mick's innocence is a counterpoint to his experience. Despite his young age, Mick's behavior and responsibilities are typical of an adult. He has already started smoking and drinking alcohol, and wanders around at night when a 13-year-old should be at home. The narrator explains that at night "the girls were afraid that a man would come out somewhere and put his teapot on them as if they were married," yet Mick was not afraid at all (93). The use of the word “teapot” is crucial to understanding narrative focus. The word “teapot” is used to refer to the male sexual member, but it is also reminiscent of the famous children's song “I am a little teapot”.The word “teapot” would not have been used by the narrator if he had described the same concerns experienced by one of the other characters (93). If the character analyzed in a similar situation had been Doctor Copeland, the narrator would have used a more specific and refined term such as genitals. Likewise, if the character analyzed in a similar situation were Jake, the narrator would simply have used the colloquial term penis. The use of the word “teapot” suggests that Mick is both an innocent child and a girl with more experience than her peers. This same idea is conveyed by the narrator when he uses the expression “as if they were married” (93). The narrator implies that Mick has the knowledge to understand what other girls fear; however, her young age makes her perceive the sexual act as something that only concerns adult and married people. In the chapters of the book written by Mick, the narrator alternates between the use of childish language and the use of more mature terms. For example, after Etta loses her job and the family cannot afford to pay the installments on George's toy, the narrator shouts, "it was money, money, money all the time" (270). The repetition of the word “money” alludes to a child throwing a tantrum. The use of such informal language breaks the barrier between the third-person narrator and the character, so that readers may have difficulty recognizing whose voice they are hearing. Furthermore, at the end of the book, when Mick is sitting in the New York Café, the narrator observes that “the ice cream was OK, covered all over with chocolate, nuts and cherries. And the beer was relaxing” (307). By extrapolating this sentence from the entire paragraph, readers cannot distinguish who is speaking. Through the use of narrative focus, the narrator highlights how Mick is simultaneously a child who likes ice cream and an adult who likes to drink beer. Furthermore, the narrator reveals that “the beer tasted good after the ice cream” (307). This sentence can be read as a metaphor that creates a stronger description of Mick, so the narrator compares Mick's childish and adult behaviors to ice cream and beer to underline that Mick's peculiarity is the synthesis of his adult and childish characteristics that make it unique. When Mick is alone with Harry, the narrator informs readers that "there was a warm boyish smell about him" (219). As the third-person narrator is omniscient, it is obvious that he or she knows exactly what the character feels or thinks; however, the language used to explain the character's thoughts to readers is more appropriate to the language used by two teenage girls sharing their secret than to the vocabulary used by an omniscient narrator. Yet the use of such a peculiar vocabulary is directly linked to the perception of the character that the narrator wants to convey to the reader. Furthermore, the narrator does not describe the smell in more detail because Mick's character does not know how to define it. The narrator merges so much with the character he is describing that he can no longer use a vocabulary other than Mick's. A further example of narrative focus is evident in the way the narrator refers to different characters. For example, in Mick's chapters, the narrator refers to Mick's younger brother as "Bubber" (89); however, after Bubber shoots Baby and decides that he would start using his real name, the narrator begins calling him "George" (210). The narrator agrees to this boy's will and names him as his family and friends do. Similarly, in Mick's chapters, the narrator refers to Biff as “Mister Brannon,” while in the other characters' chapters he refers to Biff as “Biff.