Lover and Beloved: The Chorus to The Ballad of The Sad Cafe

"First of all, love is a joint experience between two persons-- but the fact that it is a joint experience does not mean that it is a similar experience to the two people involved. There are the lover and the beloved, but these two come from different countries. Often the beloved is only a stimulus for all the stored up love which has lain quiet within the lover for a long time hitherto. And somehow, every lover knows this. He feels in his soul that his love is a solitary thing. He comes to know a new, strange loneliness and it is this knowledge which makes him suffer. " (25)

This passage is key because it outlines the nature of the three main relationships of the story: the relationship between Miss Amelia and Marvin Macy, the relationship between Miss Amelia and Cousin Lymon, and the relationship between Cousin Lymon and Marvin Macy. We see in each of these relationships that there is in fact a lover and a beloved. Thus in this passage and throughout the story Carson McCullers demonstrates a belief that the concept of love is defined  and created by inequality. As the story plays out, we watch the way the dichotomy of "lover" and "beloved" brings distress to each person involved, and how it causes irrational behavior. McCullers's idea of love is not one of health, nor of happiness, but of continuous struggle.

Discussion Question:
How does the role of "lover" or "beloved" manifest itself in the behavior of each character as they exist in each role?