Wise Blood By Flannery O’Connor: The Striking Impact Of Surroundings On A Person
There is no question that objects that surround us impact our character and perspective on the world. In Wise Blood, Flannery O’Connor focuses on how the characters in a twisted, consumerist society surrounding Hazel Motes affect his mind and his morality as a whole. O’Connor’s detailed characterization of even minor figures not only illustrates the striking impact of surroundings on Hazel’s ability to understand moral identity, but also depicts the flaws of a society in which people fail to grasp concepts beyond the superficial, leading to disconnect and lack of empathy. Even in childhood, Hazel’s surroundings begin to shape his psychological and moral traits. Because Hazel is raised in southern United States, religion becomes a very strong cultural influencer for his character. Throughout the novel, the reader repeatedly sees Hazel’s inner struggle about his feelings towards Christianity.
The root of Hazel’s confusion traces back to his grandfather, who instilled in him an extreme sense of guilt, teaching Hazel that sin is deadly and requires redemption from Jesus. Hazel plans to become a preacher because of his family’s religious fervor, until he returns from the war believing there is no such thing as redemption from Christ, who he perceives as an authoritative figure. Although Hazel attempts to let go of his strong religious upbringing, O’Connor would describe him as “Christ-haunted. ” Due to the cultural significance of Christianity in his society and his grandfather’s religious zeal, Hazel cannot escape, thus leading to strong psychological effects and a lasting imprint of Jesus on Hazel’s morality. This imprint continues to haunt Hazel, creating a basis for his attempts to shy away from religion and choose a nihilistic approach to life. This context of Hazel’s upbringing establishes exactly why Hazel contradicts himself in expressing his religious opinions, whether it be atheism, a new church without Christ, or an actual belief in redemption. His family surroundings created the foundation for his conflicting morality and affected his mind for almost his entire lifetime. The effect of Hazel’s childhood surroundings on his moral values also explains his nickname, “Haze, ” which literally means “a state of mental obscurity or confusion” (Google Dictionary). Haze refuses to accept what is true because he is constantly in a confused daze, representing his perpetual moral battle.
Even minor characters in Eastrod, Hazel’s hometown, affect Hazel’s morality and state of mind. Their constant obsession with material goods, monetary wealth, and superficial objects prove the lack of understanding or abstract knowledge in Haze’s society. To these characters, only objects used to gain social or monetary status are valued, creating the backdrop for Hazel’s physical and cultural surroundings after returning from war. For example, when Hazel attempts to create a church without Christ, Onnie Jay Holy takes Hazel’s call for newness at its face value. Instead of trying to understand and empathize with Hazel’s point of view, Onnie Jay Holy advertises Hazel’s new church as “up-to-date! When you’re in this church, you can know that there’s nothing or nobody ahead of you, nobody knows nothing you don’t know”. Once again, another person in Hazel’s society has transformed a once meaningful entity into nothing more than a gimmick to gain social superiority. This kind of cultural dissonance in his surroundings not only affects Hazel’s own moral values, but causes Hazel a great amount of frustration and psychological dilemma, which presents itself at many points throughout the novel. One instance of such dilemma occurs during Solace Layfield’s death scene.
When Hazel sees Solace begging for forgiveness for his sins before dying, the cries force Hazel to contemplate his own moral traits. Although Solace repeats the sins of all other characters in the story and contributes to the lack of authenticity in society, he finds redemption for his mistakes in his final moments. This revelation causes Hazel to lash out and murder the fake prophet, because it is too difficult for Hazel to accept the concept of redemption at this point. For Haze, the psychological damage from his surroundings, both from childhood and from his apathetic, materialistic society, prevents him from facing the reality of his moral beliefs. Finally, Hazel’s journey with his broken-down car emphasizes his journey towards understanding his moral traits as well. When Hazel buys his car, the moment represents his willingness to continue moving forward in society, as the car symbolizes the future and the ability to move up in status. Although the dirt cheap car would be seen as inferior and lacking value in his societal surroundings, Hazel almost views the car as his item of hope in a world with no sense of morality. While he continually denies that his car can no longer function when others remind him, his confrontation with the policeman, another minor character representing cultural surroundings, is the turning point for Hazel’s connection with his moral identity. Because Hazel’s society is accustomed to seeing things only at the superficial level and not comprehending moral significance, the cop ironically stops Hazel not for murder, but simply because he doesn’t like his face. When the cop pushes Hazel’s car off the cliff, Hazel loses his one item of hope in his surroundings. From this point onwards, Haze realizes he must look inwards to find his moral traits and blinds himself to commit to this ideal.
After years of allowing surroundings to shape his psychological and moral traits, blinding himself finally allows Hazel to break away from repeated flaws of his society. Through this act, Hazel gains a deeper understanding for genuine morality, and finds psychological awareness. Furthermore, this act gives characters like Mrs. Flood the chance to empathize, which might suggest that Hazel’s true connection with his moral values allowed him to affect his surroundings instead. O’Connor’s message can be seen through this final moment in the novel; once we empathize and try to connect with others, we can achieve greater understanding in our society.
