Ballad of the Sad Cafe and Other Stories Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory

For McCullers, hands are more than just useful hook-substitutes at the end of your arms. They seem to demonstrate a person's interactions with others—the way one body does (or does not) reach out...

There are so many mentions of light—the way the sun shines, or how the moon glows—that discussing any of these can feel like talking about how much sand there is in a desert. But ignoring the p...

For a long time, scientists believed that different regions of the human tongue tasted the different elements of flavors, including sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and umami. Even though that's since b...

In Georgia, peaches seem so omnipresent (both literally and symbolically), that it's tempting to totally ignore the repeated mentions of the town's peach trees. But McCullers is a careful writer, s...

Lots of things in the world are red—apples! fireman outfits!— but in Miss Amelia's sleepy southern town, we can only think of three or four red things.Miss Amelia's DressMiss Amelia's regular u...

Mister Macy's Magic GuitarMarvin's guitar is faithful as a pet, accompanying him everywhere no matter what. After the crime spree that would land him in jail, the cops find him "drunk, on the floor...