Carson McCuller's The Ballad of the Sad Café is an enigmatic story of love and loss. Perhaps the most interesting (and hard to grasp) point in this novella is the author's definition of love. It is hard to ascertain what kind of love is present between the characters and what has caused these feelings to develop. I will attempt to clarify this in my analysis.

McCullers story takes many twists and turns in a short amount of time, and is therefore hard to follow. For example, how did Amelia get the idea to open a café? It says alcohol is involved, but that can't be it. Did Amelia think of it herself, or was Cousin Lymon or one of the others the one who hinted it to her? It is also hard to understand how Amelia, very cold and reclusive person, just took Cousin Lymon in without any...