Fixation on Imagination: An Investigation into the Necessity of Personal Deception in Clock Without Hands Addie Stone College

Many people, especially Southerners, willingly deceive themselves when referring to race relations or the way we remember the past by voicing their opinions in the form of “It was not that bad during segregation” or “The Civil War was fought over state’s rights.” In her novel Clock Without Hands, Carson McCullers explores themes typically found in Southern literature such as family, tradition, and race relations through the interactions of Judge Clane, Jester Clane, Sherman Pew, and J.T. Malone while also exposing the toxicity that comes with denying reality. Though born in Georgia, McCullers herself, due to severe depression and homosexuality, had an unusual relationship with the social norms of the South. She expresses this personal disparity through the traits of some of the characters in the novel. However, she also delves with surprising clarity into the often purposefully obscured realm of imagination. This layer of depth adds insight not only to the characters’ personalities but also to their relationships to the social environment of the 1950’s South. In presenting characters’ idealized scenarios for the past, present, and future in contrast with the reality of their world in Milan, Georgia, McCullers demonstrates the...