Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood follows Hazel Motes’ attempt to abandon his religious beliefs and establish a “Church Without Christ”. Hazel Motes and many of the characters in Wise Blood seek material prosperity, but utilize religion as a means to reach such a goal. This perversion of Christianity for materialistic objectives prevents the characters’ redemption from Christ. Specifically in the case of Motes, it is not until he has lost everything material that he finally accepts Jesus’ divine grace. The grotesque characters exist to display the distortion of moral purpose that materialism brings. The symbols in Wise Blood focus solely on materialistic desires, this symbolism effectively displays how much the characters rely on materialism in …show more content…
their lives. Many of the settings in the novel are often poorly described with an emphasis only on advertisements or various objects, this is intentional to show how society is focused on the idea of material prosperity. O’Connor’s use of grotesque characters, materialistic symbolism, and vague settings are the basis for the theme of materialism being an obstacle to redemption. The characters in Wise Blood vary greatly, however they all share a common trait. In the pursuit of material prosperity, they all exploit religion in one way or another. A prime example of such a perversion of religion lies within Asa Hawks, a blind preacher. When Motes first encounters Hawks, Hawks is walking through a crowd of people and begging along the way. He murmurs, “Help a blind preacher. If you won’t repent, give up a nickel. I can use it as good as you. Help a blind unemployed preacher. Wouldn’t you rather have me beg than preach? Come on and give a nickel if you won’t repent” (O’Connor 36). Hawks is using his religious status as leverage to receive sympathy and money from the crowd. The latter, specifically, is his main objective. While he seems like a simple, blind preacher in the beginning, the reader soon learns a startling fact about Hawks. Ten years prior, Hawks had promised to blind himself to justify his belief in Jesus. However, he lost his nerve and never went through with the deed. Since then, he has faked blindness in order to give himself additional leverage in begging. It is clear the Hawks’ sense of moral purpose has been distorted by his pursuit of prosperity. He exploits his religion in order to turn a profit from random civilians. It is even stated in Matthew 6:24 that one “cannot serve both God and Money.” Hawks is contradicting this in his consistent begging. However, by stepping out of the guiding words of the Bible, he is limiting his ability to be redeemed by Christ. This limitation is brought about by the need to find prosperity as opposed to pursuing redemption. Hawk’s exploitation of religion, however, is only minor in comparison to Hoover Shoats. Shoats is a businessman who “sees this [religion’s] panacean approach to spiritual problems as a moneymaking ‘gimmick’” (Littlefield 340). Shoats, in an attempt retain a crowd during Motes’ preaching, steps up and begins talking about how the Church Without Christ had saved him. He follows the common business tactics of selling himself, putting faith in his product, then selling the product. This product, of course, is the Church and Motes. After he had finished preaching, Shoats began inquiring for a partnership between he and Motes, seeing the potential profit of the Church. However, Motes’ denial of the partnership was solidified by him slamming the car door on Shoats’ thumb. Shoats, in an outrage, says, “I'm going to run you out of business. I can get my own new Jesus and I can get Prophets for peanuts" (O’Connor 159). This statement and Shoat’s actions show how materialism affects peoples’ lives. One man is willing to exploit an idea he knows nothing about just because he sees the potential profit it can bring. Shoat’s attempt to commercialize religion is yet another display of a distorted moral and spiritual purpose. While many of the characters in Wise Blood display grotesque qualities, Shoats and Hawks are among the most prominent figures who distort their views in the name of materialism. This perversion of religion as a means to achieve material prosperity is why all but one character in Wise Blood is truly redeemed. Hazel Motes’ Essex serves many different purposes, in a figurative sense, to symbolize both material prosperity and Motes’ attempt to escape Christ.
In history, it is known that the automobile was the symbol of prosperity in the early to mid 1900s. Given the time period of Wise Blood, this symbolism still exists. O’Connor dedicates a full chapter just to the process of Motes buying the vehicle as this symbol of prosperity becomes the base upon which Motes literally puts his Church. “It becomes his escape, literally from Taulkinham and figuratively from Christ. It is what saves him from a visitation of grace” (Littlefield 342). The symbol for prosperity is being utilized as an escape from Christ’s grace, this shows just how powerful materialism is in preventing redemption from Christ. Throughout the entirety of Wise Blood, Motes avoids Christ’s grace, using materialistic possessions as a metaphorical obstacle to his redemption. He even states that “nobody with a good car needs to be justified” (O’Connor 109) which essentially means that he can avoid Christ all he wants as long as he has his possessions. Ironically, his car is later destroyed and his only escape from Christ is then lost. It is at this point that Motes finally accepts Jesus’ grace, justifying it by blinding himself and mortifying his own flesh. Motes is the only character to have been redeemed, however this only occurred after an extremely long struggle and the loss of his car. The process of Motes’ salvation …show more content…
shows just how much materialism hinders a person’s redemption. It took the loss of nearly everything before Motes was finally redeemed, this effectively displays the fact that materialism makes man’s redemption far more difficult or even impossible. There are many instances in Wise Blood in which a description of the setting is extremely vague, with a sole emphasis on the various symbols of the prosperous society. Upon arriving in Taulkinham, O’Connor does not acknowledge what the city looks like or what surrounds Motes. The initial description of the city is only when “he began to see signs and lights. PEANUTS, WESTERN UNION, AJAX, TAXI, HOTEL, CANDY. Most of them were electric and moved up and down or blinked frantically” (O’Connor 25). The first things that O’Connor focuses on are the various advertisements and signs that Motes notices. In another description, O’Connor vaguely references the surroundings of the City Forest Park. However, when it comes to describing the Frosty Bottle, she describes it in vivid detail. It was “a hotdog stand in the shape of an Orange Crush with frost painted blue around the top of it” (O’Connor 78) and then she describes the interior by writing, “there was a large advertisement for ice cream, showing a cow dressed up like a housewife” (O’Connor 84). In each of the settings, the surrounding areas were portrayed in vague detail, for example, “they were in a dark room with a counter across the back of it” (O’Connor 84). However, when it comes to describing advertisement and other signs, O’Connor does not hold back on any details. This is done intentionally to show just how much modern society focuses on materialistic objects. The surroundings in Wise Blood are almost black and white in the mind of the reader, they are blurry with very little detail. However, the vivid detail of the advertisements portrays them as if they are key symbols in the novel. O’Connor’s description of the settings, or lack thereof, is meant to simulate the importance of materialism to the society in Wise Blood. Most things are insignificant to them, only the objects that have a distinct, monetary value are shown to have any importance in society. The importance of material possessions in modern society is what drives the characters in Wise Blood to take such drastic steps in order to reach material prosperity. With materialism becoming a dangerous trend in modern society, Wise Blood exposes the true costs of chasing material prosperity.
The cost, of course, is an increased difficulty to achieve redemption from Christ. The distorted sense of morality and spirituality among the characters is all brought about by the call of money and instant gratification, causing the characters to live in a constant state of mental chaos. These distorted senses are the reasons why it is increasingly difficult for man to receive redemption from Christ. In the end, only one character is redeemed and that only comes after he loses his symbol of prosperity, the Essex. Society constantly promotes the pursuit of prosperity, yet Wise Blood shows that this materialism does little to provide assurance of the joy of life. The chaos that runs wild in society roots itself in the material prosperity which Flannery O’Connor exposes in Wise Blood with the use grotesque characters, materialistic symbolism and vague settings from the society of incomparable
prosperity.
People all over the world continuously commit sins some are bigger than others and some do more damage. In the book, The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, a woman, Hester Prynne, is publicly shamed and force to wear a scarlet A upon her bosom for committing adultery. Throughout the book, Hester and her daughter, Pearl, try to adapt to life as an outsider. The two are continuously judged for Hester’s sin, and humiliated, however, they overcome this judgment and are seen in a different way. Hester and Pearl have been publicly shamed, Pearl has been considered an elfish devil like child, and after all the humiliation they were able to turn their lives around.
Religion is a pervasive theme in most of the literary works of the late Georgia writer Flannery O'Connor. Four of her short stories in particular deal with the relationship between Christianity and society in the Southern Bible Belt: "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," "The River," "Good Country People," and "Revelation." Louis D. Rubin, Jr. believes that the mixture of "the primitive fundamentalism of her region, [and] the Roman Catholicism of her faith . . ." makes her religious fiction both well-refined and entertaining (70-71). O'Connor's stories give a grotesque and often stark vision of the clash between traditional Southern Christian values and the ever-changing social scene of the twentieth century. Three of the main religious ingredients that lend to this effect are the presence of divine meanings, revelations of God, and the struggle between the powers of Satan and God.
In this part of the essay, I will show how O'Connor made use of symbolism through her characters to symbolise an abstraction of class-consciousness. The issues of class consciousness was brought up through the rounded character of the grandmother, who is the protagonist of the story. On the surface, we see the characteristics of the grandmother portrayed as a "good" woman, having faith in God and doing right in her live. However, the sin lies within her, whereby she thinks she is better than others around her. Viewing appearance and self-image as important, which is reflected through her gentility, the grandmother wears "white cotton gloves, straw sailor hat with a bunch of white violets on the brim, navy blue dress with a small white dot in the print and the collars and cuffs were white organdy trimmed with lace" (p.2117). Through her attire, the grandmother implies that people who looked at her will know that she is a respectable and noble lady. Repetitive use of the colour white is symbolic as it reflects the way the grandmother perceives and associates herself with - perfection, goodness, and purity. The grandmother also predicts that she would have done well if she had married Mr. Teagarden, "who had died a wealthy man few years ag...
Hawthorne incorporates symbols into his story in a powerful way, however Irving’s symbols are not equally powerful. Hawthorne uses Faith’s pink ribbon to symbolize her purity. The ribbon is fitting because the color pink is associated with virginity and purity. The color is commonly worn by young girls when they are young and pure. The ribbon allows the audience to assume that Faith, like her name, is a religious young woman who lives her life by the holy bible. The action of the ribbon can even change it’s symbolism. While Brown is in the woods he sees Faith’s pink ribbon soar through the sky, symbolizing her loss of purity and entrance into the devil’s dominion. The second powerful symbol that Hawthorne incorporates is the staff that the old man offers Brown in the woods. The staff symbolizes Brown’s temptation o...
Flannery O’Connor believed in the power of religion to give new purpose to life. She saw the fall of the old world, felt the force and presence of God, and her allegorical fictions often portray characters who discover themselves transforming to the Catholic mind. Though her literature does not preach, she uses subtle, thematic undertones and it is apparent that as her characters struggle through violence and pain, divine grace is thrown at them. In her story “Revelation,” the protagonist, Mrs. Turpin, acts sanctimoniously, but ironically the virtue that gives her eminence is what brings about her downfall. Mrs. Turpin’s veneer of so called good behavior fails to fill the void that would bring her to heaven. Grace hits her with force and their illusions, causing a traumatic collapse exposing the emptiness of her philosophy. As Flannery O’Connor said, “In Good Fiction, certain of the details will tend to accumulate meaning from the action of the story itself, and when this happens they become symbolic in the way they work.” (487). The significance is not in the plot or the actual events, but rather the meaning is between the lines.
As evident in The Scarlet Letter, when a person sins they face positive and negative consequences that lead into development of their own personal character. Hester’s scarlet letter gave negative consequences in the beginning, but as Hester persevered she discovered benefits that aided in her becoming a strong woman in society. While Arthur Dimmesdale suffered the guilt and pain of his sin, his sermons benefited from his anguish, making him better than he ever had been. As an ever-constant reminder of sin, Pearl was able to show Hester the goodness in life and keep her going. In conclusion, in modern and past society there has always been sin or badness that people fall into, but it is important to get through these hard times as only then will people grow into who they are meant to be, and not remain stagnant in the pool of the “immaculate”.
"[W]hen thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth" counsels the Bible, thus setting the precedent for all well-meaning members of western society concerning their charitable intentions (Matt. 6.3). Humanity's motivation to aid others, regardless of the outcome, is oft times spotted by the subtle struggle between selflessness and selfishness. Flannery O'Connor captures this classic conflict between good and evil in Southern Grotesque fashion through her characters, the protagonist Sheppard and his foil, Rufus Johnson, in [comment2] "The Lame Shall Enter First".[comment3] Challenging the literal paradigm of light and darkness, O'Connor weaves together well crafted characterization, cryptic dialogue, and both biblical and literary allusion in this paradoxical plot and, by way of Sheppard and the antithetical Rufus, blends the black and white of Christian dogma into an ironic grey.
One of the main literary devices would be imagery. One of the most important images found in the story pertains to Faith and reaching heaven. Goodman Brown says, "...I‘ll cling to her skirts and follow her to heaven."(H-CAL 375). This follows traditional Puritan belief that if you have faith you will go to heaven. The uses of dark and light also help convey the religious theme of good and evil. Dark is used to symbolize evil, the woods is mainly where this is seen. Light is mostly seen in the beginning, before Goodman enters the forest. Before it all becomes dark and gray. Colors also played an important role. In the beginning Faith pink ribbons in her hair, which represent that she is young and happy. With white symbolizing purity and red representing passion,...
The characters in this story were very important to get Flannery O’ Conner’s point a cross that there are many different people in this world that have different views on the world but in the end it doesn’t matter what color your skin because some things are out of your control like her stroke.
There are many themes within Flannery O’Connor’s short story “Good Country People”. Religion is definitely one of the more prominent themes that the story holds. Like most of O’Connor’s works, it plays a big part in the actions or characteristics of the main characters. This is all on the surface however. The more important and less accentuated theme is the various facades the characters create for themselves. These facades prevent them from facing their true “grotesque” selves. These facades also hide their weaknesses that they have no wish to face ort just can’t understand. People must be comfortable with every aspect of themselves, because certain people, who in this story are represented by Manley Pointer’s character, can easily exploit their weaknesses. He’s “good country people” and “the salt of the earth” as Mrs. Hopewell refers to Manley Pointer who really is a demon that they must face. A demon to remind them of their weaknesses.
Imagine a world where everyone only took what they needed, and nothing more. That world may never be, as long as greed exists the world will never be satisfied. Through “The Crucible” and “Dr. Faustus” the authors are able to tell stories of greed taking over the lives of Abigail Williams and Faustus. Through the stories of these two, a similar connection can be drawn between their actions and the consequences. Their experiences prove that greed can get the best of people, and is always destructive.
Flannery O 'Connor utilizes multiple biblical references, such as Jesus raising the dead, to create a foundation for what the Grandmother and Misfit believe in terms of morality. The Grandmother references Christianity in a positive and redeeming sense while the Misfit claims that “Jesus was the only One that ever raised the dead, and He shouldn 't have done it. He shown everything off balance” (O’Connor 151). Her reality before the incident was the people such as the Misfit were evil, while those similar to her who grew up in the classic traditions of the south were better off. Although she was raised in a highly religious and proper setting, she does not realize the fault in her logic until she is staring down the barrel of a gun. The grandmother attempts to use this religion to save her life by telling the Misfit about prayer and salvation. By asking the Misfit "Do you ever pray?" and then repeatedly saying “pray, pray, pray”, she is attempting to show him the fact that he does not have to do evil acts because of his past (O’Connor 149). Because the Misfit does not view himself as evil, his reality is that his actions and beliefs are morally
Hobbes’ Materialism religion is portrayed as distinctly similar to Descartes’ in the sense that there is the staunch belief of a supreme being in existence. Descartes suggested that philosophy and material substance mattered as demonstrated by motion whereby an entity’s existence was only based on motion. Descartes had the belief that the earth was formed by a supreme entity, God, who assumed his place as the creator and watched the creation thriving and running dynamically and independently without any supernatural influence (Rogers 1988).
Whitt, Margaret. Understanding Flannery O’Connor. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1995. 47-48, 78. Print.
The author shows that money can change a characters behavior. You see this behavioral change in Claire by the way she dresses and acts as she is above everyone. In the beginning