Ballad of the Sade Cafe - Tale of Two Towns

Our Cafй, In the Middle of the Street

Carson McCullers wrote The Ballad of the Sad Cafй in a distinctive approach, in which she contrasts a petite village during its abandonment phase and when it prospered most. The selection was written in which the beginning and end takes the role of describing the town when it was desolate. The majority of the novel plays as a flashback to when the cafй developed the small village into a working town. Miss Amelia is who runs this cafй, which runs the town, in which when Miss Amelia’s despair quickly gained entrance to society, the cafй closed down, as did the town.

The present town is described as “dreary,” as it is established in the first sentence and at the end. However, after the institute of the cafй, instantly the village began to flourish, becoming more active and alive. This is unlike the previous “town” the hopeless people grew to hate. The first town, being abandoned-like and featuring a small populous area represents abandonment, in which nobody is truly connected to one another. The active town represents a feeling of devotion, prosperity, and success, as the town grows together with one another and all being connected through the cafй.

Cousin Lymon is the key factor that affects how the cafй and town runs. Before, Miss Amelia ran a small general supply store and doctor’s office, for which the town’s people became accustomed to. Nothing really happened until Cousin Lymon arrived as “kin” to Miss Amelia. The guideline, according to Miss Amelia, in drinking alcohol was it must be done outside the store. To show and open up herself to Lymon, her love and devotion to Lymon’s recklessness quickly changed this. She allowed Lymon to drink the alcohol in her store, as well as the rest of the townsfolk. Because of Lymon wanting the cafй to officially open, the deserted town became an establishment all had visited and were connected through. Not only did she prim up the store into a cafй, she also wore nicer dresses and became friendlier to the townsfolk. Thus, the cafй not only ignited the start of the town, it also opened up Miss Amelia as well.

Without the cafй, society returns back to its old state. Marvin Macy, Miss Amelia’s ex-husband, came back to town to mesmerize Cousin Lymon into becoming his companion. As Lymon is lured into Macy’s liking, the further Miss Amelia and Lymon are. The town begins to