Wise Blood discussion

Did haze realize that he wasn't clean after he killed the fake preacher?

Hussein wrote: "Did haze realize that he wasn't clean after he killed the fake preacher?"

I think he realized he wasn't clean long before, even before the book begins, when he was a child. I think that any one transgression, even one as horrifying as murder, or any one act of righteousness, would be beside the point for Hazel. What are you at your core?

You may want to read some of the O'Connor's quotes listed in the quotation discussion thread. (Though, if you haven't finished the book, you may want to wait.)

I think his awareness of being 'not clean' came after his experience in the war from which, at story's opening, he has just returned. His sense of dislocation sends his mind spinning in a desperate search for transcendent truth.

I think that murdering the fake preacher Haze realized he really was a sinner, thus began his attempts to 'clean' himself.

Tom wrote: "I think that murdering the fake preacher Haze realized he really was a sinner, thus began his attempts to 'clean' himself."

Hi Tom, I need to check the text again to see how Haze behaved after murdering that fake preacher. I don't recall that he demonstrated guilt.... maybe I'm wrong. I'll get back to you with my findings.

Hi Margret,

As I remember it, after Haze killed the fake preacher, who was nothing more than a puppet of Hoover Shoats, he began to punish himself by doing things like putting broken glass in his shoes and wrapping barbed wire around his chest. Eventually haze blinded himself in the manner Asa Hawkes pretended to.
Another way of looking at it is that Haze was trying to prove his faith by killing the fake preacher and suffering for God he had tried his best to deny.
Just a thought.

Hi Tom, Yes, the murder was to prove he had no belief, and the post-loss-of-car-behaviour (Cdn. spelling...)was in response to the end of his denial[realization that it was no use fighting his faith.] In my reading of it, tho, for some reason, I focussed not on his self-punishment, but on what I saw as the apparent epiphany by the roadside after his lost his car. I liked the mysterious way O'Connor described his being drawn into some inner realization,and saw that as the interesting climax of the story. Back to you...

Hi Margret, One theory has it that most of the minoe characters, Sabbath, Enoch, the landlady, the hooker, and so on, were trying to restore Haze's faith. In a strange and twisted Flannery O'Connor sort of way. Given that, it was the police officer that shoved Haze's car down the hill that finally got the job done.
here's anopthe observation. Pigs. What do you make of the pigs in Wise Blood? I contend that they represent evil. furthermore, Hoover Shoats is the devil. My evidence: he's a smooth talker, uses a fake name, and he employs a false prophets, an anti-christ, if you will. Also, a shoat is a baby pig. What do you think.

Yeah - the pigs are definitely demonic.

I actually think the police officer is angelic. He's the only character who is not explicitly described as ugly. He has an attractive face and clear eyes. He does Haze a favour and trashes the car. The car, of course, is Haze's philosophy/platform. It doesn't hold water and it won't get him anywhere.

Great observation about the police officer and Haze's car. It's funny how the only thing Haze has faith in is a used car. I love his comment, "a man with a good car doesn't need to be justified." That sentiment also reveals a materialistic side to Haze.

To understand this book, I had to pay close attention to the car. When does the car run and when does it stop running? I also watched carefully to see when we were allowed into Haze's head and when we were shut out of it. This book is full of inverted symbols, and I sort of read it as a puzzle.

I think that is how O'Connor intended it. Based on what I've read about her she considered protestantism an absurd a puzzling thing, particularly as manifested by Southern fundamentalist sects.
There is a great lecture on Wise Blood by Amy Hungerford posted on Youtube. I highly recommend it.

Hi Tom, I'm back. Thanks for the info re that Youtube lecture; I'm going to check it out.

Hazel

For me, Haze cannot escape the guilt and shame that is so prevalent in Christian environments. He believes in God but feels he is "unclean" at his core, and is resentful about the entire situation. He is bitter about the idea of the necessity of being clean, and so is constantly attempting to rebel against it. For this reason, he takes to the streets to try to lure other people away from the religion. It seems like if Haze is damned to Hell already, he wants to take as many people with him as he can. Keep in mind that Flannery O'Connor was a devout Catholic and although the fact that on the surface faith is criticized, it was actually very important to her. The novel is not a criticism but a praise of faith and Christianity. Haze's fight against God is viewed as futile; you cannot escape judgement.

But as for the actual question, no, Haze has felt unclean since birth. I think that he does however view his murder as an unredeemable offense against God. He resigns to God and seems to be attempting to repent and do penance for his sins after his interaction with the police officer. I view the police officers as angels, because both scenes in the novel appear to be a type of divine intervention. God (via his angels) intervenes in Haze's attempt to spread discord and his anti-faith message in another city, and later intervenes mercifully to end Haze's life.