What is the author's style in The Ballad of the Sad Cafe by Carson McCullers?

In many of the stories, there are certain words and phrases that become touchstones in the narrative, succinct ways to get at a larger meaning in the story. In "Wunderkind," Frances repeats the word "wunderkind" in her head over and over. She struggles with this label of herself; it has become a prison for her, a moniker she cannot live up to, a burden of tremendous weight which she finally shrugs off in dramatic fashion at the story's end.