Miss Lonelyhearts: Analysis of Major Characters
"Miss Lonelyhearts" is a poignant exploration of the struggles faced by its titular character, a male advice columnist who becomes increasingly burdened by the genuine anguish expressed in the letters he receives from readers seeking help with their troubled relationships. The character grapples with the reality that the supposedly humorous job has turned into an emotional torment as he confronts the deep suffering behind the lovelorn pleas. Attempts to numb his pain through alcohol, fleeting romances, and retreats to the countryside prove futile, as the letters continue to haunt him.
Key figures in the narrative include Willie Shrike, the cynical feature editor who exacerbates Miss Lonelyhearts' despair with his relentless mockery, and Mary Shrike, his wife, whom Miss Lonelyhearts unsuccessfully tries to seduce. Betty, a girl in love with Miss Lonelyhearts, hopes to alleviate his sadness but ultimately cannot distract him from the letters. The character of Peter Doyle, a disabled man seeking meaning in his life, is pivotal; he confronts Miss Lonelyhearts in a tragic encounter that culminates in violence due to misunderstanding. Fay Doyle, Peter's dissatisfied wife, also seeks solace in Miss Lonelyhearts, attempting to seduce him in her quest for escape from her own discontent. This intricate cast highlights the complexity of human emotions and the often painful search for connection and understanding.
Miss Lonelyhearts: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Nathanael West
First published: 1933
Genre: Novel
Locale: New York City
Plot: Social satire
Time: Late 1920's
Miss Lonelyhearts, the male writer of advice to the lovelorn on the New York Post-Dispatch. The lovelorn column, considered a necessity for the increase in the paper's circulation and regarded by its staff as a joke, becomes an agony to its writer as he sees that the letters he receives are genuine cries for help from the very depths of suffering. In an attempt to escape the pain of the realization that he is the victim of the joke rather than its perpetrator, he turns in vain to drink, to love-making, and to a vacation in the country with a woman who loves him. Finally, in the delirium of illness, he imagines himself identified with the Christ whose image has long haunted him. As the handicapped Peter Doyle approaches his room, Miss Lonelyhearts runs toward him with arms outstretched to receive him in his healing embrace. His gesture is mistaken for an intended attack, and he is shot.
Willie Shrike, the feature editor, who is Miss Lonelyhearts' boss. He turns the knife in Miss Lonelyhearts' agony by his unending mockery of the desperate cries for help in the lovelorn letters and of the attempts at escape with which people delude themselves.
Mary Shrike, Willie Shrike's wife, whom Miss Lonelyhearts tries in vain to seduce.
Betty, a girl who is in love with Miss Lonelyhearts. Hoping to cure his despair, she takes him to the country. The attempt fails, since the letters are not forgotten.
Peter Doyle, a handicapped man who consults Miss Lonelyhearts about the meaning of the painful and unremunerative round of his existence. Later, he accuses the columnist of the attempted rape of his wife and shoots him in a struggle following a gesture that Doyle mistakes for an intended attack.
Fay Doyle, Peter Doyle's wife. Dissatisfied with her life with her handicapped husband, she seeks out Miss Lonelyhearts and tries to seduce him.