An Analysis of Religious Images in Flannery O’Connor’s Novel Wise Blood

Abstract

Speaking of the Southern Women’s writing of the 20th century, Flannery O’Connor would be on the top of the list. After two novels and thirty-two stories, Flannery O’Connor, a Roman Catholic living in the American South, passed away of disease at the age of 39. Since her first novel Wise Blood which was published in 1952, her influence on literature and art has steadily been increasing—she won numerous awards in her not long life. According to McFarland,
Thinking is that the realm of the Holy interpenetrates this world and affects it. It is the workings of this mystery that she was most concerned with demonstrating in her fiction. By her own explanation, the grotesquerie of her stories is directly related to her Christian perspective.
Wise Blood was surely embedded in her religious views and reflected her unique writing style—the use of violence and bizarre characters, and the theological meaning, later to become its strength. Thus, the author tries to present the notions above in this paper, which is divided into five parts. The first part is an introduction of Flannery O’Connor; the second part is a brief analysis of Flannery O’Connor’s writing style. The third part focuses on the Christian cultural context of the novel, and the next part presents religious views of O’Connor through two characters: Hazel Motes and Enoch Emery. The last part is conclusion.