Characters in Ballad of the Sad Cafe

Characters in Ballad of the Sad Cafe

Cafe with Character


Carson MacCullers wrote her novella, The Ballad of the Sad Cafe, in third person.   In this dramatic narrative, the narrator is an observer.   In the novella, character serves to accent the narrator’s limited point of view.   The   motivations behind Miss Amelia’s, Cousin Lymon’s, and Marvin Macy’s actions are often a mystery to the narrator.
Miss Amelia is the main character of the novella.   She was a “ . . . dark, tall woman with bones and muscles like a man.” (p. 4)   Miss Amelia had a “ . . . strange and dangerous . . . ten [day] . . . marriage . . . ” (pp. 4-5) to Marvin Macy, a reformed delinquent.   This marriage was very out of character for Miss Amelia because she was a “ . . . solitary person . . . ” (p. 4).   No one understood this union, not even the narrator.   Miss Amelia’s reasons for marrying Marvin Macy remain a mystery.   The marriage was a farce because the “ . . . groom was unable to bring his . . . bride to bed with him” (p. 31).   The brevity of the matrimony is another oddity; what was the purpose of marrying him, and then only for ten days?   The answer to this question seems to elude the narrator.   The narrator obviously has only a limited knowledge of Miss Amelia’s mind.
The narrator also lacks a total comprehension of Cousin Lymon and Miss Amelia’s reaction to him.   Miss Amelia was a loner, however she took this “ . . . dirty little hunchbacked stranger . . . ” (p. 12) up to her private rooms.   She was acting completely out of character and the narrator does not seem to know why.   Miss Amelia proceeded to look at Cousin Lymon with   “ . . . the lonesome look of the lover” (p. 23). She inexplicably fell in love with her odd house guest.   The narrator cannot clarify this unexpected turn of events.   Cousin Lymon seems to return Miss Amelia’s affections to some extent; he “ . . . [marched] in Miss Amelia’s footsteps . . . ” (p. 24).   However, Cousin Lymon was quick to turn away from Miss Amelia when Marvin Macy returned to...