Fugue and Counterpoint in THiaLH

In her essay, "The Conventions of Counterpoint and Fugue," Janice Fuller uses The Heart is a Lonely Hunter as the basis for her argument that Carson McCullers' works retain a constant presence of the two.

Fugue is a collection of melodies in one specific piece, while counterpoint is a term used to describe how each melody balances off of the other and manages to repeat itself. We see how this correlates to THiaLH through the recurring jumps between each character as they interact with each other and embrace their feelings of loneliness and struggle to exist in their society. However, Fuller tries to emphasize the actual importance of music within the novel, denouncing those who only note the "frequent direct references" to music in the novel and how it only functions as a "minor symbol," by making note of how music relates to each and every one of the characters, and saying that these direct references to music abound, "...Willie's harmonica tunes, the music from Biff's mandolin, the mechanical music of the flying-jinny, and the 'singing moan' of Doctor Copeland's voice," as well as the classical music Mick "enjoys in the dark," (Fuller 1). In order to realize the importance of the music, we first have to look at music at a term of its own. Instead of seeing it as pleasant mixture of rhythms and melodies, it's important for us to see it as the efforts of the musicians who make it to make themselves heard to the world, and to make the world see what they think and feel.

My question is this: how do the characters of the THiaLH try to communicate with others in the novel, what exactly are they trying to say, and how do the personal struggles of each character relate to one another?