SOURCE: Knowles, Jr., A. S. “Six Bronze Petals and Two Red: Carson McCullers in the Forties.” In The Forties: Fiction, Poetry, Drama, edited by Warren French, pp. 87-98. Deland, Fla.: Everett/Edwards, Inc., 1969.

In the following essay, Knowles places The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter within the context of American literature around the time of World War II.

We are dogged by coincidence. As this essay is written, Carson McCullers has succumbed to a long illness, bringing to earth all the rumors of her decline. At the same time, in theatres across the country a controversial motion picture version of Reflections in a Golden Eye has stirred new interest in this curious imagination that first captured our attention nearly thirty years ago. The writer perishes, the reputation is nourished: not the exchange we would have wanted, but more acceptable than complete oblivion. Nineteen sixty-seven has, ironically, managed to...