Mrs. Jernigan's AP Class discussion

Unpack your quotation in a detailed, well-developed paragraph or paragraphs. Analyze the quotation in terms of its meaning in context (as related to the chapter) AND explore its connection to the larger themes and motifs of the novel as a whole.

"Jesus on the cross. Christ-nailed."
Again in this chapter Haze references Christianity with his Christ haunted tone. Throughout the book he uses Christ as a conversation point asking everyone he meets if they are "redeemed" despite the fact he "doesn't believe in anything". Haze uses this phrase in reference to the worth of his car, and possibly even the worth of himself. There are strong themes of religion throughout the book but they become extremely prevalent in the 5th chapter where Haze keeps insisting his is clean even after the shop woman told him he was. This goes back to the idea of being "Christ haunted" and pursued by something he doesn't believe in. Haze brings up religion so frequently as a way of convincing himself against it, which shows the extent that he is being pursued. O'Connor writes Hazel to juxtapose the common Christian who claims Christ but never discusses religion, while Hazel constantly speaks about Christ but claims to not believe in anything. Clearly the main conflict of this story is the internal strife Hazel experienced surrounding religion, and I foresee that to heighten before a cataclysmic event interrupts him and possibly leads him to real Christianity.

"Everyday when he went in, he did the same things."

As Enoch Emery's role becomes clearer in this section of the novel, O'Connor situates him at "the heart of the city" in the zoo where he works as a guard. Once finished with his shift, Enoch follows a ritualistic path that takes him from his guard station to his stalking post behind the bushes by the swimming pool. Enoch hides beneath the foliage and observes the female swimmers with their slitted bathing suits. He then gets a milkshake from his "baby doll" and continues his perverted spectatorship tossing insults at the woman behind the counter who is "secretly in love with him." Enoch then visits the caged animals, and he pummels them with debris and rocks. After the cages, he makes his way into the dark mystery of the museum and stares at the Shrunken man. This daily ritual is one he must follow in chronological order- dictated by his "wise blood." O'Connor places the zoo in the heart of the city for Taulkinham's inhabitants are bestial, even the bears appear more tame and civilized. Enoch, as the zoo's guard, heads up this degenerate crew as its false prophet, for he allows his blood to guide him. Although Enoch shares a fascination and hatred for the caged gorillas, he mimics their routines with fervent admiration and refuses to depart from this path even when Hazel needs to leave. Enoch's beliefs contradict Hazel's and showcase their ignorance and futility.

"Jesus Saves."
In Flannery O'Connor's 'Wise Blood,' the theme of Jesus's saving Grace is central to the novel. The quote, "Jesus Saves," appears when the blind preacher and his daughter talk to Haze, and similar quotes appear throughout the entire book. The idea of Jesus saving penetrates the entire work, however. For example, no matter where Haze goes, Jesus is somehow always brought up-- on signs by the highway, as swear words, or as an attempt at evangelism. When Haze sees the sign on the road, for example, he stops his car to read it, which states that without Jesus's salvation he is damned to hell. In this instant, he insists he is saved and clean (as he insists several times) on his own and does not need Jesus or His saving, as Jesus, according to Haze, does not exist. Jesus, hwoever, does exist and does indeed save Hazel Motes and there is nothing Haze can do about this fact. Haze, for example, compuslivley follows the blind preacher, sees Christ on the sign, brings up Christ when he sees merely an owl at a zoo, and thinks about his own spiritual state when climbing into bed with a whore. In fact, Jesus is brought up in nearly every single conversation Haze has with anyone. From the prostitute he nightly sees, to the woman on the train; from the car salesman to a man he sees on the road, Haze must assert his beleif that Chris is false and that Haze is indeed clean. This ever-presence of Jesus proves that Haze cannot escape even the idea of Christ, let alone His grace, no matter how hard he tries to distance himself from him. This touches on O'Connor's belief that God's Grace is unstoppable and random, completely independent from Human choice or influence. Haze has been chosen by God to be saved by Jesus simply because God has chosen so, and there is no amount of denial that can rip Haze away from his salvation. The book, therefore, is Haze's journey to come to terms with the fact that "Jesus Saves" him, not to find Jesus or salvation. Haze is saved the entire time, he just, however, will not admit it.

Quote: "He would have to get him there, even if he had to hit him over he head with a rock and carry him back up to it."

Haze went to the zoo to find Enoch because he wants to go to the blind man/preacher. He wants to seduce the blind man's daughter (Lily) and prove that God is not real. However, Enoch INSISTS that Haze goes with him to see what he (Enoch) usually sees. He tells Haze that he will not lead him to the blind man if he does not go with him. So, Haze goes, and also goes through the other part of Enoch's routine. Enoch takes Haze to go look at a woman changing, and to see a man's withered body that is in a glass case. Then, upon asking what he's seeing he throws a rock at Enoch and knocks him out. Haze has become very engulfed in himself and his personal beliefs. He does not respect Enoch and thinks that he can just demand and demand and that, in return, Enoch will obey because he looks up to him. Due to the fact that I have not read the whole book or most of it, I can not conclude that this trait has something to due with his identity. However, I am inferring, currently, that it does tie into how he establishes his identity/purpose. Haze thrives on getting what he wants, what he desires. For example, readers saw this with the the car. Haze played hard to get and did end up getting what he wanted, the car at a lower price. So, it became no shock to me, while reading this quote, that I am seeing Haze behave this way once more. Though this time in a more violent/harsh manner. At this point, Haze's persistent nature has also been drawn out more clearly. He cares so much about what the blind preacher thinks that he will do anything to prove him wrong. Even if that means throwing a rock at Enoch and knocking the wind out of him.

The statement "I AM clean" I assume relates to Hazel's constant proclomations that separate him from Christianity, as he believes he has no need to be saved from anything. This goes along with everything we have seen in the book so far as the book is entirely based around the idea of pointing out the absurdity of this mentality in an ironic fashion. No one is arguing that Hazel isn't clean, but feeling that he really isn't he argues that he is, overcompensating for his own ignorance.

"I don't have to run from anything because I don't believe anything."

Haze says this to the used car salesman in chapter 4 when he is leaving the car lot in a hurry. There is a theme of Haze being followed while he in turn pursues other people. For instance, when he is on the train, the older woman, Mrs. Hitchcock follows him and in the city Enoch follows him and he cannot seem to shake him. At the same time, Haze pursues other people. He pursues the black man on the train while being bothered by Mrs. Hitchcock and pursues the blind man and his daughter while being followed by Enoch. Haze was brought up in a religious setting, but now it seems he is being pursued by sin and the secular world. Whenever Haze pursues someone, the person he pursues does not give him much attention, similar to how he ignores the people that follow him. Haze is not running from anything, but he is running towards something and trying to shake distractions to his mission. He is trying to recover the religious sense he once had.

“Muvseevum”
Haze has just been dragged by Enoch all through the park to this hidden gem deep in the park. Enoch is compelled by his “wiser blood” that he must bring Hazel here. ‘Here’ is a Museum in the middle of the park, to which Enoch has ascribed to name Muvseevum due to the Greek style of writing on the building. The U’s in Greek style writing look like V’s, and from Enoch’s highly uncultured, small town perspective he sees it as a mystical building which he dubs a “muvseevum.” Flannery O’Connor adds this mistake to further create and develop her stereotypical southern world. She is hell-bent on over exaggerating Southern and Southern religious stereotypes in order to put on trial the outrageous, backwards, complacent, and often racist thoughts and actions of the classic southern belle, gentleman, or farmer. In this case Enoch has been lying about how he got to the town and how long he’s been there in order to impress Haze. Some would excuse his mistaken reading of Museum attributing it to his youth, yet at his age he ought to be able to tell what the word was despite its misleading V’s. O’Connor is presenting her case against the accuracy of southern stereotypes in the beginning of this book, bringing them all out of the dark closets and exposing them to the sun. O’Connor refuses to sit by and allow the South to live in absurdity, acting and believing as foolishly as they are.

¨The park (and the zoo) was at the heart of the city.¨

In Flannery O'Connor's novel Wise Blood, the park and the zoo symbolize not only where most of the confusing actions in chapter 5 occur, but also represent a smaller world of the city itself. In the context of chapter 5, the setting of the zoo allows Enoch to show Hazel what he has waited to show someone ever since he came to the city. In chapter 5, Enoch's ¨wise blood¨ comes to the surface at the zoo itself. The zoo and park also allow the reader in chapter 5 to look more closely into Enoch's character as they watch him in his work environment. The park brings out the dark side of Enoch's mind, causing him to lustfully watch women at the swimming pool while he supposedly does his job. The zoo also allows the reader to see a more oddly intuitive side of Enoch's mind when he talks about his ¨wise blood¨ and how it begins to beat faster once Hazel arrives to visit him at the zoo. In the context of chapter 5 in Wise Blood, O'Connor uses the settings of the park and the zoo to show a more in depth version of Enoch's character.
In the context of the novel as a whole, the zoo becomes a place where the previous comparisons between characters and animals come together. Throughout the novel, O'Connor repeatedly describes characters with the same features of certain animals. These descriptions allow O'Connor the emphasize the characters of Enoch and Hazel. The setting of the zoo creates a smaller representation of the city through O'Connor's past descriptions of characters except for Enoch and Hazel. Enoch and Hazel both travel through the zoo and the city together and without animal-like descriptions, suggesting that they both contain a vital similarity. The fact that they look at all of the animals together points to them both containing a similar characteristic that also removes them from O'Connor's animal comparisons. Since O'Connor states that the park and the zoo reside at the heart of the city, this placement also suggests that the park and the zoo both contain the figurative heart of the city as well; they both allow the reader to more clearly view certain characters' souls. In the context of the novel as a whole, O'Connor places the park and the city at the heart of the city to illuminate the fact that they represent a smaller version of the city and its' inhabitants as a whole.

I know a clean boy when I see one.

In this quote,O'Conner references the swarthy, swearing child Haze encounters in chapter four using an extreme example of juxtaposition to suggest that the south has a dual nature. The child in chapter 4 attempts to sell Haze a car, while swearing wildly and repeatedly invoking Christ’s name. This show of blasphemy by using Christ’s name in a flippant fashion evokes a strong reaction from Haze who immediately claims Christ is uneccessary. O’Conner uses the boy’s dual identity with his agressive profanity and his taking Christ’s name in vain intentionally to reveal the duality of the south. Another side of this quote is Haze’s own denial about his state of being. Haze is prepared to claim that the boy is fallen, but his own weakness is displayed through his evil actions. He has a dual nature.

"It might have come from the man inside the case"

Towards the end of the reading, after Hazel buys his $40 car, Hazel and Enoch go into a museum. Looking over a casket, Enoch notices the man’s piercing dark eyes. Horrified, Enoch turns away and hears a sound. Hazel ignores Enoch as he discovers that the sound may have come from the man in the casket. The significance is elucidated through Enoch’s struggle to obtain Hazel’s approval. Enoch follows Hazel throughout the story so far like a dog, and Hazel keeps turning back, even though his priority lies in moving forward. O’Connor, so far, writes through the power of ominence. The story is told in a third person point of view, signifying that the reader is not able to personally relate or be on the same “team” as the narrator. The reader, though, in this passage, is able to see the onus placed on Hazel with the presence of Enoch. The lack of the use of a first person point of view does not let the reader relate to Hazel, so scenes like this help prove the burden.

"Hazel Motes's face might have been cut out of the side of the rock."
This quote effectively characterizes Hazel as represented in the book thus far. Hazel lacks, or does not show, much or any emotion, which this quote further exemplifies. In this chapter, Enoch Emory wants so badly to show Hazel something he has never shown to anyone, but Hazel could not be less interested and is somewhat disgusted with Enoch’s enthusiasm. All day Enoch leads Hazel around town, including to the town zoo, until he feels it’s time to show Hazel his secret in the park, where Enoch spends much of his time. All Hazel focuses on the entire time is getting the blind preacher’s address from Enoch, which is the only reason he agrees to follow Enoch around. This quote is significant in that it demonstrates Hazel’s entire nature and outlook. He has a negative and self-righteous way about him and very little finds pleasure. The imagery of Hazel’s face compared to the side of a rock allows the reader to paint a picture of Hazel as a straight-faced, unhappy person.
This quote also relates to the book’s thematic elements as a whole. One overarching theme found in “Wise Blood” is the theme of self-redemption. Hazel claims adamantly that he does not believe in Jesus; however, O’Connor hints that Hazel must believe in Jesus, at least a little, otherwise he would not try so hard to disprove him. He does this because if Jesus really does exist, Hazel cannot be righteous by his own doing and would need Jesus, thus eliminating his redemption of himself. The fact that his face is not only at this point, but at most times throughout the book, similar to “the side of the rock” expresses his underlying misery, the misery that O’Connor suggests stems from the constant belief that one can save themselves.

"The reflection was pale and the eyes were like two clean bullet holes.”

Death is a terrifying proposition for all, but especially for those who deny the existence of any God or afterlife. Hazel Motes is one of those people. In the absence of redemption and hope rests paranoia and fear. It may lay dormant for long stretches of time but it will always reappear. That reappearance is often triggered by some traumatic event or view, Hazel’s was prompted by a shrunken man. He was transfixed, entranced, hardly able to break away from that lifeless embodiment of his perceived future. It was this sight that awakened the fear and urgency in Hazel. While he was insistent on finding the address he was looking for throughout the chapter, his desperation was heightened by the exhibit. Suddenly the man remembered how determined he was to be unredeemed, and how dangerous that was for him. Death is always imminent, the shrunken man reminded Hazel of that, and that combined with his aversion to religion made him an impassioned man. This quote and the actions following it show the fear derived from Hazel’s revulsion to being saved and how it controls him. That decision to reject christianity haunts him and has the power to determine his actions. That decision is what awakened such a great urgency in him upon seeing that shrunken man. It was Hazel’s reflection that was pale with eyes like “bullet holes,” he saw a vision of himself passed away. A terrifying vision indeed, but infinitely more terrifying because of Hazel’s distaste for religion and the way that haunts him. It’s terrifying nature was confirmed by the way it forced him to act.

"He Had the Feeling That Everything He Saw Was a Broken off piece of some giant blank thing that He Had Forgotten Happened To Him" - Wise Blood

This quote is so intriguing. Haze’s life has appeared to scattered and broken. This quotes explores the idea of of not knowing full stories. Hazel has this sense that something greater had taken place. This quote could be pointed back to the religious themes. Hazel has stepped far away from Jesus, yet he is still a part of his life. the idea of righteousness and salvation are present. Does O’Connor release this quote in hope that the reader catches the “broken off pieces” and figure that the “giant blank thing” is a God we cannot fully understand?