Dissecting ‘The Haunted Boy’ by Carson McCullers
And the latest discourse on men’s fiction
This is one of my favourite tales of all time. I love the slow creeping dread of it and how McCullers (a woman) is able to paint such a close and accurate picture of the struggles of a young man going through a bad time.
Outside of any ‘messages’, it’s simply a fantastic tale on its own. There’s still time to read it if you want to join in the discussion below. There be spoilers ahead.
Join us
Here at Short Story Club, we read the very best short stories from the past, and the ones from the present that deserve more kudos. I’ll provide links to all stories for free, and then we get together to analyse what made them so effective (from a reader and writer point of view).
A walk through the ‘other time’
What we have here is a story that is both tense and heartbreaking, that doesn’t give all its information straight away.
The opening sequence shows us a young lad in panic, seeking and calling for his mother who has left the house without leaving a note.
As we go through the tale, Hugh tells his friend (after begging him to stay countless times), what really happened to his mother during the ‘other time’ that is so constantly in his head.
This is the tension in the tale. What happened to have Hugh so utterly scared to be alone in this situation?
The sun shone on a red piece in the flowered rug. Red-bright, red-dark, red-dead.
As we go through the story, it is revealed to be the most heartbreaking of situations. He found his mother who had tried to commit suicide. Hugh is trying is hardest to keep his cool in front of his older friend, while not lose his shit at how scared he is.
But, it doesn’t work. His friend is obligated, ever so obligated, to sell tickets about town and eventually leaves, despite Hugh’s attempts.
He was afraid of the empty house.
Filled to the brim with tension, Hugh goes up the stairs, into the silence, remembering the other time, fearing that’s what he’s going to walk into again.
But, it doesn’t happen that way. She is nowhere to be found. Alone, he has a bit of a breakdown of his own, and his mother saunters in after a shopping spree showing off her new dress and shoes.
And that’s the power of the tale. It’s easy to forget about how things like this have an impact on a whole family unit. Clearly, the mother has gone through the worse of it in the family, but Hugh is a close second.
Above all, this story speaks to me of growing up through hard times as a young boy. No one has been checking in with him, and he’s shouldered all this hurt and anguish. His soft-worded exchanges about what his mother went through speak everything of his character. He wants his mum to be better, wants John not to judge him (or her) for being sent to Milledgeville.
And then, once Hugh calms down from his scare of finding his mother in that red state again, we get a great satisfying conclusion to the tale – a talk with his father about how ‘fine’ Hugh was through the whole business. We almost feel Hugh’s chest puffing out, feel him well with pride.
The way it reveals its information
It’s a perfect example of a story that could potentially be overwhelming in a short space, delivered in expert fashion.
We start simply enough – Hugh is scared shitless. He does not want to be alone in the house. He misses his mamma and is scared of ‘the other time’.
If this was all thrown at the reader in one go, we’d stop reading the tale. Instead, we are hooked, enthralled by the language and the tension, and we go along for the ride.
How does McCullers do this? Through a great deal of profluence and by dripping us backstory as and only when we need it.
We are kept reading on due to the strength of the relationship with John, the beautiful sentences, and the escalating intrigue.
All that status
What makes the ending chat with the father so impactful is how much we see Hugh is status-led. He and John call each other by their surnames as it’s grown up and sporty during their warm back and forths. He his a young man seeking his place, wanting to do well by others, faced by a situation that would crumble most people.
So the fatherly talk at the end lands with satisfaction due to this being set up earlier in the tale.
A perfect example why reading is important
There’s been a lot of discourse over the past few weeks regarding the lack of men who are reading. Now, I don’t believe there is a lack of fiction aimed at men, but we do need to get more men (and people in general) reading.
But, here we have a tale that says everything about a young man trying to hold it together and being tough in his own way, written by a woman. How can this be?!
We get this conversation about representation all wrong, imo. Men shouldn’t only read men, women shouldn’t only read women, men can write women, and women can write men. We’re not so different.
Reading builds empathy, and if a writer is open enough and watches the world enough, they can write about absolutely anyone and do a good job, as McCullers has done here.
Sorry for the lateness of this!
My apologies for being so tardy with this post. I’m in the middle of editing a novel, and I also had a literary agent submission to work on. That, and work is crazy. I will try to do better, but this also has to fit around everything else.
May your shadow never grow less,
Paul O
(PS - The voice is from Speechify, not my own. Let me know if you hate it or love it).
How can I forgot to read this post?!! A good writer is a good observer so can write in different perspective of a person. I wish you well and don't worry so much, sometimes we need to focus on ourselves. I don't dislike the audio but I always prefer the authors voice 🌹.
No need for apologies = life is life and the innerwebz is not real life. Just glad there was no bad reason for your delay! The story was one that I enjoyed, not only for the quality and skill of the writing itself, but for an actually uplifting conclusion. The ever increasing sense of dread as the story progresses is done with such controlled excellence!! And the gradual revelation of the kind of unspoken fear that is held within, never shown to others, by a young boy desperately wanting to preserve his image of being strong and tough, while inside he is quaking = THAT was, to me, the most masterful stroke of understanding and empathy, of the whole story.
I must admit that, although I have known several female authors and have read so many works done by women, I was truly amazed at this author's grasp of the "how" and "why" of a young boy's inner world, where hope, fear, heartbreak, trauma and need, was so perfectly, perfectly done!!!! I was deeply touched by the incredible level of comprehension; after all, although we all, regardless of our sex, share certain elements of the human experience, we do not at all always react, process and handle emotional crises in the same way. So, I stand and salute this lady's talent in delving so deeply into the heart and soul of the protagonist!! And I thank YOU for sharing this jewel with us. As for your mention of future episodes being sporadic, again, I know we all understand, and will simply look forward to your appearances when they do occur - rather like Tom Bombadil appearing randomly but always bringing joy when he does show up, so shall we anticipate your appearances. I wish you all the very best with your ongoing adventures, in career and, above all, in life.