Summaries With Notes

Miss Lonelyhearts, Help me, Help me

Summary

Miss Lonelyhearts of the New York Post - Dispatch, seated on his desk, is working on his column. Answering a letter he writes that, life is worth living and faith is a clear flame, but he is unable to continue any further. Then he gives a quick look at the post that has just arrived. His editor, Shrike advises him to suggest art as a means of escaping from the harsh realities of life, to all the disparate and ‘sick of it all’ who write him.

Miss Lonelyhearts is a young man resembling a New England Puritan. It is clear from this chapter that, Miss Lonelyhearts seems to be the only hope for the people in need for help. But reading and answering desperate, depressed and heart rending letters everyday, has made Miss Lonelyhearts, sick-of-it-all, too. He believes in Christ and knows that God is the only answer to all sufferings, but it is a far-fetched hope for restless souls. Apart from this, his editor, a rather cynical man jokes at him and calls it ‘Christ business.’ So the answer that, one must have faith in God is unacceptable and therefore he has to think of new answers.

One notices that, instead of directly answering their question or encouraging the readers to take reality by the horns, Miss Lonelyhearts only suggests ways to escape the truth. Miss Lonelyhearts therefore portrays the state of men and women, specifically their toppled personal lives in the modern century.

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