Breaking News: Science of Love

“A Tree. A Rock. A Cloud” is a cleverly written piece of literature by Carson McCullers. The story takes place in a café that is owned by a character named Leo. The plot starts to unravel when a young boy enters Leo’s café. The focus of the story quickly shifts when a man in the corner of the café calls the boy over. He tells the boy, “I Love You” (28). Confused, the boy is lured by his strangeness and listens to his story. The significance of the man talking to a young boy has to do a lot with the implied contrasts in the story (Age difference/ experience).  We quickly learn that the man has been abandoned by his wife for several years leaving his love stranded.

Throughout the story, the “stingy” (27) café owner interfered several times in their conversation implying that the man was crazy. It is obvious that the author did this on purpose to make the story a little bit more interesting. Overall, I would say that the central theme of the story is to love things that cannot be taken away from you. The man mentions, “Do you know how men should love? A tree. A rock. A cloud” (31).  It is evident that man seems to be depressed because the one thing that he loved left him when most needed her.

Over time, the man claims that he has discovered the “science of love” (29). In the text it says that the man examines a goldfish and falls in love with it. He basically learns to let go of things and starts to love the little things in life. The central theme of the story is portrayed through extensive character development. After analyzing this story, I noticed that the man is somewhat comparable to the actual setting itself. The café looks “bright” (27) from the outside, but in reality it seems like a very depressing environment just like the man.

-Prit Patel