Miss Lonelyhearts by Nathanael West is a novel set in New York City during the
depression-era Great Depression. The novel follows the story of Miss Lonelyhearts, a newspaper columnist tasked with providing advice to heartbroken readers. As he attempts to answer the letters of his readers, Miss Lonelyhearts embarks on a desperate search for understanding and meaning, as his life is put through the wringer by both his readers and the women he meets.
The main character is Miss Lonelyhearts, an aspiring journalist stuck in a job he never wanted. He is a man with a good heart and a mind open to sympathy but the increasing cynicism from replying to the endless stream of letters from those in pain only serves to deepen his despair and sense of alienation. His closest friend is Shrike, his editor, who provides him with moral support. The rest of the supporting characters are women. There is Betty, a prostitute, who initially befriends him and is instrumental in helping him to begin his quest for understanding. There is also Fay, a young wife and mother, who considers leaving her husband for Miss Lonelyhearts, only to end up spurning him.
The novel paints a grim portrait of New York City in the 1930s. Poverty, desperation, and prostitution dominate the city’s atmosphere. The stories of the readers with whom Miss Lonelyhearts interacts are of people on the brink of destruction, like the “Hopelessly Hopeful” couple whose letters detail their difficult relationship or the young couple torn apart by prejudice in “Broken Hearts and Promises”. Many of his readers suffer from loneliness and loneliness caused by isolation and abandonment.
As Miss Lonelyhearts’s conversations with his readers develop, he begins to put the pieces together and realizes how great a challenge providing solace to those who must face life’s struggles is. In his search for understanding, his own identity begins to unravel as he begins to question the core of his being and his own beliefs. In the end, however, Miss Lonelyhearts realizes that the only way to help his readers is to accept that his advice may be limited, but that having someone to talk to is often enough to make a difference to a person in need.
Miss Lonelyhearts is a novel that offers a bleak but honest look into the lives of those struggling with challenges during the Great Depression. It is a captivating investigation of human suffering, as well as a glimpse into the power of friendship and compassion. West’s writing deftly combines humor with tragedy to paint a vivid portrait of 1930s New York City, while the themes of loneliness, depression, and finding meaning in life remain relevant to this day.
