Introduction
Wise Blood was written by Flannery O’Connor and published in 1951. This book tackles issues such as faith and redemption through the interpretation of its many characters. Main character Hazel Motes experiences these conflicts the most as he learns first hand what it means to be “clean” in the eyes of the Lord. As O’Connor herself states Wise Blood “is a comic novel about a Christian malgre lui … [in which there are] many wills conflicting in one man”(O’Connor 6-7).
Basic Information
Title: Wise Blood
Author: Flannery O’Connor
Mood:
The mood of this novel is best described as grotesque. Grotesque literature often walks the line between comical and disturbing. O’Connor bests utilizes this writing style when she has Hazel kill Solace. …show more content…
Self: Hazel struggles mostly with his identity
Support Commentary
“He had a particular disrespect for him because his own face was repeated almost exactly in the child’s and seemed to mock him” (O’Connor 21). “Finally she touched his elbow with hers and grinned at him. ‘Him and you twins?’ she asked” (O’Connor 154). Hazel is in constant conflict with who he is and who he wants to be. He resembles others who either preceded him such as his grandfather or repulse him such as Solace Layfield. His home is lost and he had no real place to go originally in the novel, so for O’Connor to compare Hazel his characteristics to others really shows where he belongs. He is not the preacher that he was raised to be nor the destitute unbelieving persona that he sees in Layfield. O’Connor demonstrates this conflicting behaviors in his actions. Hazel either acts as his first doppelgänger or his other or he acts as his own lost soul. The only resolution to this behavior is found in Hazel’s Essex, a place where he can actually be home with himself.
Tension
The tension that stems from Hazels fear of death and uncertainty after death is seen in the coffin
Wise Blood was written by Flannery O’Connor and published in 1951. This book tackles issues such as faith and redemption through the interpretation of its many characters. Main character Hazel Motes experiences these conflicts the most as he learns first hand what it means to be “clean” in the eyes of the Lord. As O’Connor herself states Wise Blood “is a comic novel about a Christian malgre lui … [in which there are] many wills conflicting in one man”(O’Connor 6-7).
Basic Information
Title: Wise Blood
Author: Flannery O’Connor
Mood:
The mood of this novel is best described as grotesque. Grotesque literature often walks the line between comical and disturbing. O’Connor bests utilizes this writing style when she has Hazel kill Solace. …show more content…
Self: Hazel struggles mostly with his identity
Support Commentary
“He had a particular disrespect for him because his own face was repeated almost exactly in the child’s and seemed to mock him” (O’Connor 21). “Finally she touched his elbow with hers and grinned at him. ‘Him and you twins?’ she asked” (O’Connor 154). Hazel is in constant conflict with who he is and who he wants to be. He resembles others who either preceded him such as his grandfather or repulse him such as Solace Layfield. His home is lost and he had no real place to go originally in the novel, so for O’Connor to compare Hazel his characteristics to others really shows where he belongs. He is not the preacher that he was raised to be nor the destitute unbelieving persona that he sees in Layfield. O’Connor demonstrates this conflicting behaviors in his actions. Hazel either acts as his first doppelgänger or his other or he acts as his own lost soul. The only resolution to this behavior is found in Hazel’s Essex, a place where he can actually be home with himself.
Tension
The tension that stems from Hazels fear of death and uncertainty after death is seen in the coffin