Requisite Reading: The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Samuel

Requisite Reading: The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Samuel - February 2015 Scholarship Essay

Fundamental to societal progress are the interwoven concepts of service and sacrifice. These two concepts, well defined through the vignettes of American author Carson McCullers’ early 20th century masterpiece, ought to be considered deeply by every high school student. Through McCullers’ idealistic physician, Dr. Benedict Mady Copeland, the reader is confronted with an important social concept: that no society can be greater than its treatment of the weakest of its citizens; that sacrifice is the pathway to greatness; and that no man can be a true servant if he is compensated for that service. As a physician who renounces worldly considerations in order to provide basic healthcare to a deeply underserved urban population, Dr. Copeland is a characterization of mature humanistic ideals that each of us should be exposed to early in life.

This is the most beautiful and useful concept found in the text: the constructionist mentality that we are fundamentally responsible for who we become, and that true actualization comes from building who we are, then offering who we are back through service. McCullers shows how this process can hold more benefit to the person reaching down than to the person being pulled up. This idea, that one of the deepest values to be had in securing ones footing is to stabilize that of an other, is a very powerful one. Indeed, I owe my passion within my career in public health to an early encounter of this concept through this powerful book. If one could become a millionaire in the process, we would find ourselves with many men and women who would seek careers as policemen, teachers, nursing home workers, and armed servicemen, among others, pursuing such work for all the wrong reasons.

Not everyone is capable of viewing life through anything other than an egocentric lens, but high school is the perfect time to introduce our youth to ideas that might help them see life with an empathetic eye. Every high school student needs exposure to the value of civic volunteerism, and the intrinsic benefit found in personal investment to local and national change. There are few places in the world with such stark contrasts of excess and deprivation than the United States. McCullers makes the case that it is only through service and sacrifice that we are able to impact our communities, and does so in such a powerful way, that each high school student has a chance to benefit deeply from it.