Like McCuller’s other book, The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter, the characters of this book are plagued by mental and physical ailments. Yet you are unsure of whether you are supposed to feel sorry for them or not. It is my impression that McCullers isn’t concerned with the reader feeling sympathy for her characters, rather the reader is left perplexed by them. It’s this complicated view of human nature that compels me to read Southern Gothic books, and McCullers is a master of the form.