Clara Callan: Deserving of Pity

Clara Callan: Deserving of Pity

When reading a selection of literature, people may experience different emotions. The emotion that is felt depends on many factors such as: the readers' ability to connect with the main character, past experiences, and the understanding of the theme. A very common type of emotion to experience while reading a novel is pity for the main character. For the purpose of this essay the definition of pity is: "sympathetic or kindly sorrow evoked by the suffering, distress, or misfortune of another." (Dictionary.com Unabridged.). In the novel, Clara Callan, written by Richard B. Wright, the main character, Clara Callan, deserves the pity of the reader. She deserves our pity because she is lonely, dependant, and purely innocent.

Clara Callan is worthy of our pity because she is lonely. She has no one living in her home with her. Nora, her younger sister has moved away to New York, and her Father has just recently passed away. She thought she was getting used to her Father being gone, but as she was out for a walk she: "…felt again the terrible finality of his absence." (66). Since her sister, Nora is gone; Clara has a lot of time to think about her father's death. Even as years passed, Clara still feels the longing for her Father: "This afternoon I drove to the cemetery and tidied up Mother's and Father's grave…Later I sat down at the piano, I fumbled it badly and felt gloomy, almost sick with longing and loneliness." (312). Visiting her Father's grave, brought up the memories of the times she used to play the piano for her Father. On the day of his passing, he asked Clara to play the piano for him. She decided not to and has not forgiven herself for this yet. Through Clara's journal entries, we are provided with insight into Clara's thoughts and feelings. When Clara met Frank Quinlan, she was not lonely any longer, she was finally happy. After this happened she wrote: "When we parted, we said little to one another and I have seldom felt so empty." (312) Clara had been lonely for so long and when Frank came in to her life, it changed everything. She became dependant on him. However, when Frank left Clara for another woman, he left her feeling lonely and empty. Clara is alone in her home and no man to love and she deserves our pity.

Secondly, Clara Callan is also very dependant on the people and surroundings around her and deserves our pity. Clara was a lonely, isolated, independent schoolteacher until Frank Qunilan came along. He transformed her into a desperate, dependant schoolteacher. She becomes extremely dependant on the Saturday meetings with Frank. "He wants me to come to that awful place in Toronto next Saturday and I suppose I will." (310). Clara hates that place in Toronto, but she is willing to go there. She is so dependant on Frank and their meetings that she would do almost anything for him. Clara is not just dependant on Frank. She also relies on the courier system to stay in touch with all of her acquaintances. When Clara was raped by the tramp, she only had so much time before she could not get an abortion any longer. She finally got the courage and wrote to Nora to inform her of her predicament. Nora responded with, "Damn it, I wish you would join the twentieth century, and get a telephone!!! We are wasting so much time because you insist on living in the last century." (69) If Clara had a telephone, it would not have been so difficult to contact Nora with her important information. She is forced to depend on the slow mail system to transfer her very important information.