Searching for Salvation in Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood
Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood is similar to many of her other works in that she explores the ideas of faith, salvation and personal morals. By examining these subjects, O’Connor has developed a detailed study on the potential pitfalls that material prosperity can have on an individual’s spiritual well being as well as on how, sometimes, salvation isn’t meant for everyone. The protagonist, Hazel Motes, is seen throughout the novel floundering aimlessly in both ethical and spiritual chaos. At the heart of this struggle is Motes’ unfocused sense of personal principle. Trying to resist the temptations offered all around him, Hazel’s life is at once in his control and seemingly out of his hands. Ultimately, Motes’ search for salvation is unsuccessful. Partly due to his own actions, Motes’ strict religious childhood can be seen as the ultimate factor that determined his failed attempt at salvation later on. By meshing both the spiritual with the personal, O’Connor has created a cautionary tale that is at the heart of what became her life’s work: investigating how faith, and more specifically the redemption of an individual through Christ, can be obtained despite all of the material distractions that modern society can present. In Wise Blood, Miss O'Connor presents her basic theme of the redemption of man by Christ. That redemption is difficult because of the distorted sense of moral purpose in the characters. (Littlefield Jr. 133) By placing a character like Hazel Motes in a modern society O’Connor has shown just how fallible human will power can be. This imperfection, which is all too human, is at the heart of Motes’ struggle to find some amount of salvation and peace. Littlefield Jr. goes on to say, “Thus, she produces in Wise Blood an underlying theme that material prosperity is basic to the
spiritual chaos which she felt was rampant in our society.” This type of connection between material goods and spiritual bankruptcy is what continues to lead Motes astray throughout the novel and serves as one of the central conflicts throughout. By the age of twelve, Motes’ religious upbringing has already taken its toll on him, both mentally and emotionally. "From the outset of his biography in Wise Blood Hazel Motes (hazed by the mote in his vision) is torn in mind, body, and soul, between the denial of the Lord and his need to find a home (presumably, in Him).” (Kinney 85) This division within himself as to whether or not to accept his faith as currently construed is both what leads Motes on his quest in the first place and leads him off course during his journey. Within the first twenty pages of the book, and first twelve years of his life, Motes resigned himself to the fact that he was going to be a preacher like his grandfather. But what makes his childhood so traumatic is the way in which he was indoctrinated to fear God. “There was already a deep black wordless conviction in him that the way to avoid Jesus was to avoid sin.” (O’Connor 16) This, combined with multiple visions that he had as a boy were enough to instill in him the necessary horror that undoubtedly led to his demise. One such vision was especially scary, describing Jesus as a “a wild ragged figure motioning him to turn around and come off into the dark where he was not sure of his footing, where he might be walking on water and not know it and then suddenly know it and drown.” (16) His recollections of his grandfather singling him out as a boy during his sermons and striking fear into him set the stage for many of Motes’ misfortunes and confusion later on in his life. His grandfather stated, “Jesus would never let him forget he was redeemed.” (16) And the warning that “He [Jesus] would chase him over the waters of sin!” (16) With this type of language and these sorts of absolutes, it’s little wonder why Motes, as a young man, turns into such a perplexed person, searching for the very, only,
thing that he knows (or hopes) will save him. This constant tug and pull between the denial of his faith and the obvious need for some sort of greater power in his life, is the backdrop for much of Motes’ spiritual, and personal uncertainty. Wise Blood shows just how futile seeking salvation through modern means can be. “Man cannot justify himself; he cannot find salvation in any of the modern saviors, whether sex or technology or consumer goods.” (Drake 190) This is especially true for Motes, who seeks refuge in his own version of the gospel as he preaches in a “Church Without Christ.” It’s also apparent when he buys a car seeking to turn his fortune around, albeit only on the surface, and ends up killing someone with it. More so, O’Connor continues to point out that it is through the most unlikely of sources that man can come to find the message of Christ, and in turn, redemption. By trying to deny Christ, Motes has actually brought himself closer to his potential salvation. Although he may seem a most unusual choice to relay Christ’s message, it serves as a stark reminder as to just how seemingly random faith can be at times. “Attempts to escape Him or deny Him make man at once warped and ridiculous. Yet it is often those whom the upright and wholesome regard as grotesque and morbid who become chosen vessels indeed.” (191) As with any quest, whether it be emotional or physical, destination, and the act of getting there becomes important. “The link between displacement and the striving for something other, or better, is made explicit when Haze purchases the rundown Essex.” (Lilburn) This wanting to be somewhere else is evident when Motes buys the car. He views the car as a way to escape his past and forge a new future. Lilburn goes on to explain how the car represents a chance at a new beginning. “But it becomes evident that Haze buys the car not to provide himself with a place to be, but for its ability to bring him someplace else.”
Ironically enough, it’s this very car that serves as the backdrop for Motes’ preaching. “Significantly, it is also atop the nose of his Essex that Haze preaches his new Jesus to a flow of exiting moviegoers.” (Lilburn) This is one of the many points in the novel when Motes confuses material goods with spiritual salvation. “But the faith Haze places in both his car and his new savior is misguided.” (Lilburn) By trying to deal with his spiritual deficiency through material items such as the car, Motes becomes lost further in his quest for salvation. The car even leads Motes to commit an unspeakable act of violence. “Instead of becoming the means through which he finds inner peace (“nobody with a good car needs to be justified,” he tells Hawks), Haze uses his Essex to maim and kill another human being.” (Lilburn) Thus, the very thing that he thought would bring him contentment (his car) has now turned against him because, in O’Connor’s opinion, he is searching for a material answer to a spiritual problem. Motes doesn’t begin to find any form of acceptance regarding his dire situation until the car is destroyed. Only then does he recognize his various mistakes and begins to come to terms with them. But before the car is wrecked Motes drives by multiple signs that read “Jesus Saves.” These serve as a not so subtle warning, one that he didn’t heed until it was too late. It’s also important to note where Motes came from prior to his journey for salvation. Within the first twenty pages, Motes’ faith is on full display. When Motes is in the Army, even prior to many of his personal and spiritual problems, he is a young man clinging to his faith. It’s clear that his faith, however shaky it may be, is one of the few things he has to rely on. "The only things from Eastrod he took into the army with him were a black Bible and a pair of silverrimmed spectacles that had belonged to his mother." (O’Connor 17) This is significant because it shows that he is, in fact, a person whose spiritual voyage is sincere. On the very next page the religious undertones that set the stage for the rest of the action in the novel are laid out. “All he
wanted was to believe them and get rid of it once and for all, and he saw the opportunity here to get rid of it without corruption, to be converted to nothing instead of to evil.” (18) His mindset towards his faith and how he would deal with his transformation into adulthood shows the lengths he was willing to take to make sure that he wasn’t, ultimately, converted to evil. The war serves as the lightning rod for Motes’ change in the future relating to his quest for some sort of spiritual meaning. “He goes to war to kill his fellow men. But the shrapnel, like his conscience, cannot be dug out of him (or so he believes); he even holds firmly to the family Bible, and to his mother's glasses should he ever need them again to read it.” (Kinney 83) Even though his search for something more than the religious undertones in which he was brought up in led Motes to war, his mindset still is still centered on his faith. Seemingly, no matter where he goes, he takes himself, his faith, and his guilt with him. The fact that O’Connor has put a human face to this search for personal salvation only adds to the drama. By making Motes a tragic figure, O’Connor has given the usually sterile topic of religion an emotional aspect. “Haze's tragedy arises out of his predicament as a man committed to belief (or nonbelief, in certain stages of his life) who is condemned to move through an uncommitted world.” (Walters) This juxtaposition between belief and non-belief is continued throughout the story and intensifies as Motes’ personal problems do as well. An underlying theme throughout the book is the internal struggle that Motes is forced to deal with in regards to accepting, denying and then accepting faith as an answer to his problems. “In addition to his ultra serious dedication to the task at hand (denying Christ and setting up the new "Church Without Christ"), there is ever present in the reader's mind the recollection of Haze's grandfather and of Haze's rejected vocation of preacher.” (Walters) By growing up in a religious atmosphere, the seed has been planted for Motes to come back to faith as a way to deal
with the cruelties, both man made and societal, that arise later in his life. Walters continues by pointing out that what makes Motes truly tragic is his duality in terms of his soul. “Placing Haze in perspective as one who is a (temporarily) "lost soul" by virtue of the fact that he has a soul to lose.” (Walters) Regardless of how grim his circumstances become Motes tends to remain a comedic figure. “The content of his experience--sin, atonement, redemption--is totally serious; but the expression of it frequently verges on the ludicrous.” (Walters) This combination only serves to make Motes a more compelling, and ultimately, confused, character. Ultimately, it’s this very confusion that leads to Motes’ eventual downfall. By the end of the story it becomes quite clear that Motes’ search for answers in the form of salvation isn’t coming. This realization, if carefully examined, can be traced back to his religious upbringing by his unhappy mother and his voraciously religious grandfather. The two strongly religious figures in Haze’s family – his preacher grandfather and his grim and dissatisfied mother – are seen as the source of the warped version of Christianity from which Haze is not, despite ferocious efforts, able to free himself. (McFarland 87) Despite his best efforts at salvation it’s ultimately clear that not only the way in which he went about it was wrong but so was his ultimate goal. Not being able to escape his past, Motes’ distorted view of faith had already, without him even realizing it, made his search for salvation almost impossible. McFarland continues by saying, “His final surrender to Jesus and his death are seen as the results of his failure to escape from the effects of a pathological religious upbringing.” (88) This failure, while tragic, seemed doomed to happen given all of the events that Motes had been through.
Even though Motes’ death left his spiritual journey for salvation, and unresolved childhood issues of faith in general, incomplete it’s the very fact that he continued, through the war, the recollections of his domineering grandfather, visions of a vengeful God and car accident that, in the end, gave him the ability to reclaim his own fate and acquire a sense of belonging and purpose that he’d been so longing for. “What O'Connor's novels share is the toughened sense that if we can manage to locate our own fate in the bleakest of situations--in the greatest trials of conscience--then we have shouldered successfully the true burdens of a Christian life.” (Kinney 71) Given all of this it would be safe to assume that what O’Connor is saying about man’s quest for salvation is that, sometimes, it isn’t necessarily all about the results. If you can strive for redemption and still fall short, well that’s what being human is all about. Kinney continues by saying describing Hazel as “the single character in whom O'Connor's Augustinian theology is most fully realized.” (71) To underscore this point he details what O’Connor was trying to represent with Motes’ character. “Because he is a vivid embodiment of her conviction that--even after the Fall--humanity possesses an indelible divine imprint, a homing instinct for God that makes the heart restless until it finds its peace in His will." (71) This is the crux of O’Connor’s message regarding salvation: that it’s the journey, the wanting to become something better and having the courage to continue on, through all of the trials and tribulations, that make for a truly faith enriched life. For Hazel Motes, salvation and peace were driving forces in his development as a young man. Unfortunately he was also controlled by demons such as guilt and sin. Whether due to societal distractions such as material goods (in the form of the car) or the haunting of his God fearing childhood, Motes was unable to overcome his problems and find his version of salvation. By writing Wise Blood, Flannery O’Connor explored how faith, and the search for salvation, can
be as unhealthy as it is worthy. In the process she created a caustic study on the multitude of religious distortion that’s available in an alienated society.
Works Cited
Drake, Robert. "'The Bleeding Stinking Mad Shadow of Jesus' in the Fiction of Flannery O'Connor." Comparative Literature Studies 3.2 (1966): 183-196. Print. Kinney, Arthur F. "Flannery O'Connor and the Fiction of Grace." Massachusetts Review 27.1 (Spring 1986): 71-96. Print. Lilburn, Jeffrey M. "Faith and Religion in Wise Blood." Novels for Students. Gale LiteratureResource Center. Web. 18 Apr. 2011 <http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?&id=GALE%7CH1420008751&v=2.1&u=lehman_mai n&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w> Littlefield, Daniel F., Jr. "Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood: 'Unparalleled Prosperity' and Spiritual Chaos." The Mississippi Quarterly 23.2 (Spring 1970): 121-133. Print. McFarland, Dorothy. Flannery O'Connor. New York: Frederick Ungar, 1976. Print. Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Connor, Flannery. Wise Blood. New York: Hartcourt, Brace & Co. 1952. Print. Walters, Dorothy. "Chapter 2: Pattern of Salvation: Wise Blood." Flannery O'Connor. Dorothy Walters. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1973. Twayne's United States Authors Series 216. Literature Resource Center. Web. 18 Apr. 2011.