The Pathetic Lover: Ballad of the Sad Cafe

The Pathetic “Lover”

The Ballad of the Sad Cafй, by Carson McCullers (1951) suggests that there are two types of people in the world: the “lover” and the “beloved”. The “lover” is a pathetic character so enamored by the “beloved” that it changes his/her attitude or personality completely. The feeling is so powerful that even though it causes the “lover” excruciating pain, he/she continues to love. The two main characters fall under this mysterious spell and it changes their lives forever. McCullers also seems to propose that the feelings of love and attraction are not necessarily reasonable or comprehensible to others, and if left unrequited it can cause the “lover” to revert back to his/her true self.

McCullers says: “love is a joint experience between two persons-but the fact that it is a joint experience does not mean that it is a similar experience to the two people involved. There are the lover and the beloved, but these two come from different countries” (26). The author seems to think that love is never reciprocated between two people. The “lover is enamored by the “beloved”, but the “beloved” does not share the same feelings and is somehow annoyed or bothered by the “lover”. McCullers also suggests that anyone can be the “beloved” or the object of someone’s affection. The physical characteristics, habits, attitude or age do not have an effect on the intensity of the “lover’s” feelings. The “beloved” can be “treacherous”, “greasy-headed” and “given to evil habits”(26). These characteristics will not change the “lover’s” feelings for the “beloved” whatsoever: “Yes, and the lover may see this as clearly as anyone else-but that does not affect the evolution of his love one whit” (26). She also explains that the “beloved” is not a position that most people want to be in. The position of the “beloved” is more a hindrance than an honor. She says, “Almost everyone wants to be the lover. And the curt truth is that in a deep, secret way, the state of being loved is intolerable to many. The beloved fears and hates the lover with the best of reasons” (27). McCullers means that the “beloved” feels overwhelmed and annoyed by the “lover”. This explains why Miss Amelia and Marvin Macy act as they do when they are in either of these positions.

Miss Amelia Evans is “a dark, tall woman with bones and muscles like a man” (4). Her outfit of choice is a pair of overalls, and she has short hair that is always pushed away from her face. Her gray eyes are “slightly crossed” and she has a “tense” and “haggard” quality about her. The rest of her features are equally unattractive. The people in the small, southern town respect her because she is the richest woman for many miles and control most of the property in the town. She also supplies the men in the town with her delicious homemade liquor and doctors the people with her remedies for sickness. She lives a very solitary life and the only use she has for other people is to make money out of them. That is why it cam as such a shock to the people in the town when she opens her heart and lets in a hunchback who claims to be her cousin when there is not concrete proof that he is related to her at all. Upon meeting him, Amelia invites him into her home for dinner. The men who were drinking on Amelia’s porch felt there was something wrong with her, because they have never seen her act so kindly to another person: “Only a few times in her life had Miss Amelia invited anyone to eat with her, unless she were planning to trick them in some way, or make money out of them” (11). From then on Miss Amelia (lover) treats cousin Lymon (beloved) like he was a king. She readily provides him with food and board, and eventually any material object that he desires. The people of the town grow very curious of her new guest and of her hospitality towards him, which is so uncharacteristic to her. She opens up to cousin Lymon and they share many intimate talks with each other. Her attitude along with her physical appearance changes for the better. Amelia starts to wear her mother’s red dress at night when the cafй is open, and her face has a different look to it. There is a lightness about her that has never been seen by anyone until cousin Lymon came around: “There was in her expression pain, perplexity, and uncertain joy. Her lips were not so firmly set as usual, and she swallowed often. Her skin had paled and her large empty hands were sweating. Her look that night, was the lonesome look of the lover” (23). In a short period of time, Miss Amelia’s store is converted into a cafй where people came to eat, drink and gossip. Cousin Lymon is the only person in town that address her as “Amelia” and the first time the townspeople hear this they cannot believe their