Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor

Introduction to irreverent Blood by Flannery OConnor by Karen L. Enz Though a short sweet, Wise Blood is a dense and complicated one bodily fluidh versatile levels of meaning. Many readers are confused and shocked by the novel as there is a distinguishable lack of likeable characters and there is much violence. A key element in understanding the novels construction and meaning is to understand the literary influences on Flannery OConnor. Flannery OConnor was deeply influenced by Roman Catholicism that informed her own religious aesthesia which echoed in her literary voice.Her religious views depicted a deeply flawed world that could only be redeemed by the intercession of grace. Her southerly origins brought that vision into high relief with her use of casts of grotesque characters who were often involved in violent incidents. She subjected her characters to microscopical evaluation of their religious and existential obsessions. To lighten its dark tone, Flannery OConnor utiliz ed her masterful satiric wit to increase the spectrum of the colors in her literary canvass.A second influence was OConnors intense flick to the predominant literary style, New Criticism, which was at its apex during the middle of the twentieth century. New Criticism was a complicated formulaic style that often utilized dense symbolism, paradox, irony, tension and ambiguous meaning, all hallmarks of OConnors writing. New Criticism also professed that a work was to have a high spirit level of unity and self-containment. If we see Wise Blood through both OConnors religious sensibility and its permeation in New Criticism, the structure and meaning of the novel fall more easily into place.Haze Motes, (note the symbolism of his name hazy vision and mote in the eye) is a the epitome of the religiously obsessed individual. The more he professes unbelief, the more unsure and shortsighted he becomes. The ultimate paradox occurs in his blinding, when he in the end realizes his need for r edemption. The text is rife with symbolism, much of it religious. The sky is permeated with clouds that look like a simplified divinitys beards and curls, roadside pigs that are symbols of the devil, a shrunken man who was a symbol a stupid idol, an old Essex which was symbolic of a search for meaning and homecoming, and glasses that obscure vision.Some critics see the novel as a condemnation of modernity in its cult of shallow self-absorption and nihilistic pursuits. Haze is so concentrate on his pursuit of unbelief that he fails to see anything around him, including the needs of Enoch (who is driven by consciousness wise blood) and Sabbath. A satiric note is sounded in Chapter 7, which can serve as a microcosm of the novel, when Sabbath receives a letter from Mary Brittle (note the symbolic nature of the name) who advises Sabbath Perhaps you ought to re-examine your religious determine to see if they meet your needs in Life.A religious experience can be a good-looking addit ion to living if you put it a proper perspective and do not let it stoop you. Read some books on Ethical Culture. Sabbath, though she is trying to seduce Haze, can be seen as a Christ figure in that mentions I can save you, I got a church building in my heart where Jesus is king. Haze is unconvinced and he drives off leaving behind a blinding white cloud that turns into a bird with long wings that disappears in the opposite direction. Wise Blood is a complicated and multi-faceted novel that is not for the faint of heart. For those who can plumb the novels meaning, it can challenge and inform.