Carson McCullers novella, the Ballad of the Sad Cafe was first published in August, 1943 in Harper's Bazaar, also with six other short stories of a collection with the same name. The Ballad of the Sad Cafe is a southern story about a mannish figured of a women who became an object of a sinister scheme. The three peculiar characters; Miss Amelia, Cousin Lymon, and Marvin Macy lives are intertwined and fueled with love and revenge. Miss Amelia is the owner of a small café in the center of town. She is rich, mostly from her father’s previous endives, but is also quite business savvy herself. A quirky women, the townspeople accept her because of her store, whisky and her free doctoring services. Cousin Lymon is a hunchback who arrives one …show more content…
To everyone surprise, the bond he formed with Miss Amelia changed her personality, she begins to tend and care for the hunchbacked man. Cousin Lymon’s presence have influence on Miss Amelia to open a small café in her store. Cousin Lymon is quite mischievous host in the café, embellishing stories that he claims he was a part of, it is clear to the towns people the stories are false but they tolerate him. Miss Amelia eventually gives Cousin Lemon any material object that he desires, this being contradicting to Miss Amelia’s brash nature. Before he arrived in the town Miss Amelia only left her store for church and to retrieve supplies. She comes to find out that Cousin Lemon loves to travel, and often takes him into the “city”, she comes to enjoy her trips with him. His overall impact on Miss Amelia is strong, showing that a women with a stern personality is able to show …show more content…
Since Marvin Macy left after his divorce it is possible that he met Cousin Lemon before he was placed in jail. That is one possibility on how he acquired the photo. When Marvin Macy was in jail Cousin Lemon motive was to gain the trust of Miss Amelia. Gaining this trust gives him access to the wealth and he didn’t have to do any work around her. Once Marvin Macy comes back into town, he loses color in his skin and exchanges a long look with Marvin suggesting that they have met before. This could be why he follows him around with a childish nature because he want to know the next step to gaining revenge on Miss Amelia.
Closure
This is a sad story, about a tangled love triangle between three people isolation and loneliness. Carson McCullers shows the reader that love can change people and their actions, but when it comes to self-preservation a person will go back to their old