The Pathetic "Lover"
The Ballad of the Sad Café, by Carson McCullers (1951) suggests that there are two types of people in the world: the "lover" and the "beloved". The "lover" is a pathetic character so enamored by the "beloved" that it changes his/her attitude or personality completely. The feeling is so powerful that even though it causes the "lover" excruciating pain, he/she continues to love. The two main characters fall under this mysterious spell and it changes their lives forever. McCullers also seems to propose that the feelings of love and attraction are not necessarily reasonable or comprehensible to others, and if left unrequited it can cause the "lover" to revert back to his/her true self.
McCullers says: "love is a joint experience between two persons-but the fact that it is a joint experience does not mean that it is a similar experience to the two people involved. There are the lover and the beloved, but these two come from different countries" (26). The......
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