“Words can light fires in the minds of men. Words can wring tears from the hardest hearts.” This quote, said by Patrick Rothfuss, explains why the words and language in Wise Blood are so important. In this novel by Flannery O’Connor, a man finds himself caught in a war of faith, destiny, and false prophets. It is set in the imaginary southern town of Taulkinham, Tennessee in the 1950s. The book accurately represents the way southerners lived at the time and how their environments affected their speech. O’Connor drew on her own upbringing in Savannah, Georgia to create dynamic characters, such as Hazel Motes and Enoch Emery, and the unique diction used in the book. Through the use of southern dialect, uneducated language, and symbols, Wise Blood became the
…show more content…
“I'm eighteen year old and I ain't been here but two months and I already work for the city.” Said by Enoch Emery, this quote exemplifies the common, everyday language employed by every character. No extravagant vocabulary is used, and the text flows smoothly. This use of simple vocabulary also aids her in describing a scene exactly as it appears; nothing more, nothing less. The facts of the novel are stated in the same way a person would tell a friend a story; overly descriptive scenes are sparse. The symbol of eyes and what people are looking at is a common literary theme in Wise Blood. A sentence stating one character is looking at another is usually followed by a description of what the other character looks like. Situations are described with the narrator being omniscient, but is still stated in terms of what could be seen with the eye, and what people are doing with their eyes. The first description of Haze, stated by Mrs. Hitchcock, is about his eyes. “The settings were so deep they seemed, to her, almost like passages leading somewhere...” she
“I'm eighteen year old and I ain't been here but two months and I already work for the city.” Said by Enoch Emery, this quote exemplifies the common, everyday language employed by every character. No extravagant vocabulary is used, and the text flows smoothly. This use of simple vocabulary also aids her in describing a scene exactly as it appears; nothing more, nothing less. The facts of the novel are stated in the same way a person would tell a friend a story; overly descriptive scenes are sparse. The symbol of eyes and what people are looking at is a common literary theme in Wise Blood. A sentence stating one character is looking at another is usually followed by a description of what the other character looks like. Situations are described with the narrator being omniscient, but is still stated in terms of what could be seen with the eye, and what people are doing with their eyes. The first description of Haze, stated by Mrs. Hitchcock, is about his eyes. “The settings were so deep they seemed, to her, almost like passages leading somewhere...” she