Startseite Literaturwissenschaften 19. Flannery O’Connor, Wise Blood (1952)
Kapitel
Lizenziert
Nicht lizenziert Erfordert eine Authentifizierung

19. Flannery O’Connor, Wise Blood (1952)

  • Sonja Schillings

Abstract

The short novel Wise Blood follows the journeys of two protagonists in existential states of isolation in the urban South of the 1950s: Hazel Motes, an ascetic “Christian despite himself,” and Enoch Emery, who follows the animalistic instincts of his “wise blood.” The novel does not offer a comprehensive moral to the story in its depiction of violence, alienation, and a range of specific moral and ethical dilemmas. Instead, it presents an almost dreamlike stream of images and allegories that have led to the categorization of the novel as “grotesque” but have also led to extremely contradictory readings of the novel in scholarship. Its author, Flannery O’Connor, is most famous for her short stories; this is the first of two novels that she published.

Abstract

The short novel Wise Blood follows the journeys of two protagonists in existential states of isolation in the urban South of the 1950s: Hazel Motes, an ascetic “Christian despite himself,” and Enoch Emery, who follows the animalistic instincts of his “wise blood.” The novel does not offer a comprehensive moral to the story in its depiction of violence, alienation, and a range of specific moral and ethical dilemmas. Instead, it presents an almost dreamlike stream of images and allegories that have led to the categorization of the novel as “grotesque” but have also led to extremely contradictory readings of the novel in scholarship. Its author, Flannery O’Connor, is most famous for her short stories; this is the first of two novels that she published.

Heruntergeladen am 9.12.2025 von https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110422429-021/html
Button zum nach oben scrollen