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Schule > Englisch > Carson McCullers - The ballad of the sad cafe > Recommandation of the book 'The ballad of the sad cafe'

Recommandation of the book “The ballad of the sad café”

Carson McCullers short novel “The ballad of the sad café” is about the unusual love between Miss Amelia Evans, a domineering shopkeeper in a little town in the south of America, and a cripple called Lymon Willis.

Main character
One of the main character is Miss Amelia. She was a woman with muscles like a man and very rich. She cared nothing for the love of men and was not at ease with people. Miss Amelia was a very solitary person and the only use she had for other people was to make money out of them.
Also her cousin Lymon Willis plays an important role in the story. He was a hunchback. His face was soft and cheeky and he was extremely sociable.
The third main character is Amelia’s first husband Marvin Macy. He was well off and always got what he wanted. But he had an evil character and even killed a man when he was a boy.

Summery of the story
The story took place in a lonesome and sad town. Miss Amelia was the owner of the only café in this region. One day a man came to this place. He was hunting for Amelia because he was a relative. It was cousin Lymon. Amelia invited him to come in and he stayed the night at her house. The hunchback continued to live with her and she showed her love for him by letting him in all of her secrets.
The next years the café expanded in a gradual way. Every evening customers were in the café and on Saturday there was a great crowd.
Six years later Marvin Macy’s brother got a letter that Marvin is out of penitentiary. After the marriage with Amelia he was arrested because he robbed three filling stations.
When he was younger he felt in love with Miss Amelia and she married him. But everyone wondered why. She didn’t love him. Macy realized that and ten days later he left Amelia.
Some days after Macy’s brother got the letter Macy came back to the town. Nearly every day he ate at Amelia’s café. One evening Macy and Lymon came into the café and the hunchback wanted macy to move in Amelia’s home. Miss Amelia made no protest because she was afraid she would be left alone by cousin Lymon. But Amelia knew one day there will be a fight.

Personal opinion
My personal opinion about the book is that I don’t like the story very much. I think Carson McCullers tried to exchange the roles of man and woman. And because of this I don’t feel sympathy for the character of Amelia. Althought the author described the love between Amelia and Lymon I can’t feel that there are any feelings between them. She exchanged not only the roles of man and woman but described also the opposite of love and romantic.

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