Wise Blood Character Analysis

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The mid-century American south was heavily influenced by Christianity and the desire to look at non-believers with judgmental eyes. Flannery O’Connor often wrote short stories and books on the influence of religion and desperation for a clean appearance. In her book Wise Blood, she wrote about the struggle of one man to abandon his religious upbringing. Hazel (Haze) Motes is a complex character in many subtle ways. Throughout the story, he steers away from his previous self. Haze’s rejection of Christianity led him to grow increasingly more aggressive in his attempt to spread Atheism across a small town in Tennessee. Hazel Motes is a World War II veteran that was sent home because of a vague medical condition. Motes was born and raised in …show more content…

Haze’s character is similar of many people who are raised in a religious household and feel as if God abandoned them. Additionally, the struggles that Haze encounters may relate back to modern society. Haze had one main goal throughout the majority of the story; he wanted to start up a Church without Christ, but he was unsuccessful for many reasons. The Essex, Haze’s beat up car, prevented him from doing many things in his life because it would constantly stall or stop working. The car is a symbol for the events that hold someone back from achieving their goals. Although, most people tend to blame obstacles for their lack of success, Haze believed his car would better him. The other characters in the story apply to many people as well. Haze met a “blind” preacher who supposedly blinded himself in the name of God. After finding out that the preacher lied about blinding himself, Haze became more frustrated with followers of a religion. The preacher was not strong enough in his faith to blind himself for it which angered Haze who felt that religion was seemingly unnecessary if it only revolved around blind followers. Some readers may be able to relate because they personally know blind followers of

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