Eventually, the sickly Copeland is moved against his will to his late wife’s father’s farm to recuperate, his physical removal from his community at last reflecting the deeper ideological isolation he’s felt for so long. He is beaten himself when he tries to secure justice on Willie’s behalf, and is later diagnosed with tuberculosis of the lungs.

Copeland suffers physical and emotional challenges throughout the novel as he witnesses his son Willie be incarcerated and later tortured and maimed in prison. While Copeland serves as a community organizer, bringing people together at Christmastime to proclaim the values of anti-capitalism and racial solidarity, he is perpetually unable to affect change in his community. Copeland’s aspirations toward Marxism and his devotion to the works of thinkers like Karl Marx and Baruch (Benedict) Spinoza alienate him ideologically from the largely conservative, uneducated population of the small mill town. Copeland has a dark past, and admits that his anger over racism, injustice, and inequality once made him a fearful, violent person who drove his wife Daisy and his children Portia, William, Karl Marx, and Hamilton away. Its fun to laugh and learn through a read. As passionate as Copeland’s beliefs and dreams are, he finds himself unable to shake his community from what he sees as complacency. The stories are detailed, funny, and the research put into this novel is impressive. He wants his family, friends, and neighbors to demand more from life-to rise up against the oppression of white people (all of whom he hates, save for the kind and gentle John Singer), insist upon fair and equal treatment, and reclaim their dignity. With the publication of her first novel, THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER, Carson McCullers, all of twenty-three, became a literary sensation. Copeland is disturbed by the racism and injustice he bears witness to each day.

An upstanding and well-known member of his community who has delivered countless babies-many of whom have been given his name by their parents-Copeland is beloved by his people but plagued by the feeling that he’s undeserving of the kindness and generosity his patients and neighbors show to him. Doctor Copeland is a black doctor who resides in the unnamed mill town in which the novel is set.

The lonely hunter book