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Born Lula Carson Smith on February 19,1917 in Columbus,Georgia,CarsonMcCullers was the daughter of Lamar Smith,a jewelry store owner,and VeraMarguerite Waters.With her parents’hope of nurturing her as a musician,she startedplaying the piano at the age of ten,which laid the foundation for her later writing.However,she abandoned her original plan of learning the piano at the age of 17 andentered into the study of literary composition.Her writing career began at that time.

In September 1937,at the age of 20,she married James Reeves McCullers,whoshe met when he was in the army stationed at Fort Benning.In 1940,at the age of 23,she completed her first novel,The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter,which was famous for itstheme of spiritual isolation.The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter,a story of a group ofSoutherners who were disparate but commonly lonely,brought her with immediatefame as well as criticism.In the South,where racism still existed,the book wasdefinitely met with some criticism,but the praise certainly prevailed.The precise insight into the loneliness of human nature and the power of describing human life in asmall Southern town were amazing.And importantly,in this book McCullers focusedon those who were excluded.

1.2 Clock Without Hands

Clock Without Hands is about four men living in the Southern town of Milan,whose stories are plain but at the same time impressive.The story commences with themiddle-aged pharmacist J.T.Malone,who is diagnosed with leukemia and could onlylive for fifteen months.After that he is haunted by the coming death and becomes aman who looks at the clock without hands.Malone’s good friend,as well as the town’sleading citizen,Judge Fox Clane,is an overweight and elderly former Congressmanwho suffers from diabetes and stroke.The old Judge is another central figure of ClockWithout Hands,who firmly supports the old Southern institutions and slavery.He hassuffered greatly through the loss of his wife and son,the latter through suicide,and heis also shown to be extremely ridiculous and blind to reality.While the Judge is allpolite daintiness in his manners,his politics remains that of the old pre-Civil WarSouth.He fervently believes that the old way will come back,with his agitation ofrunning for congress again.Later,because of his declining sight and hearing,heemploys the young colored man Sherman Pew to write letters arguing for financialrestitution to the South,even compensation for the economic damage caused by theabolition of slavery.Sherman refuses his unreasonable demands and quits the job.Sherman Pew is an orphan,who is rootless and eager to find his identity.Afterknowing his parents in the Judge’s office,he accepts his black identity and tries to finda new place to live.Eventually he moves into a white neighborhood.The townspeoplewon’t tolerate a black person in a white community,so they kill the boy in a bombing.The last character is the Judge’s grandson,Jester.He is lost in the Southern society butby knowing the truth of his father’s death,he finds the life goal of being a lawyer.

CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Studies Abroad

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