The book is set in an unnamed Southern town in America, with John Singer, a deaf-mute who becomes a silent listener to the other four individuals while they unleash all their frustrations upon him. All of them are desperately isolated and lonely, unable to break or even see through the loneliness themselves, yet unaware that it is the only thing that is binding them with their seemingly distant, disparate fellow townspeople. The theme is contained in the title of this story, which is taken from a line of William Sharp’s poem, “But my heart is a lonely hunter that hunts on/a lonely hill.” (1911) The four individuals rarely ask about John’s life, merely venting out their troubles to him. Their inability to build actual connections with the families and friends other than Johan Singer, a man who is silent, reminds us their unwillingness to leave their loneliness behind.