Wise Blood was the first novel by Flannery O’Connor, who is generally known for her short fiction; it was first published in 1952, though it was based on short stories that had already been published in magazines. It was challenging for me because none of the characters seem likable or even rational, and their actions seem arbitrary and mysterious. O’Connor was a Southern woman and an ardent Catholic, as well as a lupus sufferer, who died at the age of 39. All these factors figure in this story.
The main theme is redemption through acceptance of Christ. The protagonist, Haze Motes, was raised in a Christian home and his grandfather was an inspired preacher. Motes had also intended to be a preacher until he was drafted. In the service, he became totally disillusioned with religion, enough that when he gets back to the states, he decides to found a church without Christ, and to preach the falsity of religion. He lives largely in his mind, often unable to see or hear anything beyond what is going on in his head, or in his soul.
Haze Motes attracts one follower, even before he declares himself an anti-Christ preacher, an 18-year-old boy named Enoch Emory, who also lives in a world of his own imagining, based on his religious upbringing. He is crazy with loneliness, and would follow just about anyone who gave him a pat on the head, but Haze rejects him, mainly because he can’t really see outside himself.
Haze is inspired by a beggar named Asa Hawks who pretends to be a blind, unemployed preacher. He claims that he blinded himself for Jesus. Haze takes him seriously at first, but is later disillusioned.
Soon after Haze starts preaching the Church without Christ, a con man named Hoover Shoats tries to latch onto him, and to make a profit from his fervor. When Haze rejects him, Shoats hires a beggar to imitate him, dressing him in the same way, and coaching him to act in a similar manner.
The tone of the novel is Southern Gothic Humor. The idea is that the events in the plot are so horrible that they make you laugh, but they are played out in the generally benighted and backward culture of the south: religion is ubiquitous, and generally phony; police violence is routine, not just against black people but anyone they deal with; women are a little more in touch with reality, but they are ugly and gross, both in body and in spirit.
The story is loaded with religious symbolism and circular plot moves, as if for the amusement of graduate students in literature. Psychological 'truth' is irrelevant; Haze and Enoch behave in ways that symbolize certain ideas.
Though the novel is about redemption, reading it would not reinforce anyone's faith, nor would it cause anyone to seek salvation. Although the author, Flannery O'Connor, was herself a devout Catholic, but she had so much detachment that she could make an extended joke about the idea of salvation.
