Abstract. Literature must be always interesting; it must have a structure and an aesthetic purpose, a total coherence and effect, and it must stand in recognizable relation to life (Rene Wellek, 1956: 212). Literature must give the readers pleasure and knowledge, and can add their intellectual. In literature, we can find three genres. One of the literary genre, prose, is often classified into some other forms, such as novel, romance, short story, and biography.
The novel, as Richard Taylor says in his book Understanding the Element of Litarature (1981: 46), is the modern or living form of narrative fiction which often shares constructional features, subject matter and themes derived from the epic, romance, allegory and satire, it remains distinctively separates from them. One sub-form of novel, gothic is very popular from the 1760s onwards until the 1820s. Gothic has had a considerable influence on fiction since (still apparent in the 1990s) and is of much importance in the evolution of the ghost story and the horror story. Most Gothic novels are prose forms that contain horror stories or tales of mystery, intended to chill the spine and curdle the blood.
As a subgenre of Gothic style, Southern Gothic could be considered as a style of writing practiced by many writers of the American South whose stories set in that region are characterized by grotesque, macabre, or fantastic incidents (http://en wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Gothic). Like its parent genre, it relies on supernatural, ironic, or unusual events to guide the plot.
Conclusion. Having done my analysis, I come to the conclusion that firstly the grotesque characteristics are reflected in Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood. The main character, Hazel Motes is pictured as an absurd man. Hazel preaches that there is no heaven or hell, and it shows us that life is meaningless for him. Hazel isolates himself from God and does not believe in society’s norm or law. Hazel is also described as a violent person for he is impolite to everyone he meets and kills someone who imitates him. O'Connor gives Enoch Emery, another character in Wise Blood, the monster quality by changing him into Gonga the gorilla, an animal form. Enoch also does evil and gross things, just like a monster that always related to the evil things. Hazel’s irony is that where he started out preaching the Church without Christ he ends up with Christ without a church.
Secondly, the usage of grotesque in this novel is the Southern grotesque. The setting and characters pictured in the novel are taken from the South. As a native of Georgia and a Roman Catholic, O’Connor depicts, in its entire comic and horrendous incongruity, the symbols, and the mysteries of divine grace in the “Christ haunted” Protestant South.
Third, the usage of anti-Christ symbol is found in this novel. Number 666 is one of the symbols that O'Connor uses which symbolizes of the anti-Christ. The last, Wise Blood is a comic novel for it provides a fool or comic figure that gives people pleasure and laughter when they compare themselves to the figure. It is also comic because it has contradictions, conflicts, and incongruity. The contradictions can be found when he wants to seduce Sabbath Lily Hawks but he does not want to, or when he wears a preacher’s suit and hat but he does not want others think that he is a preacher. As the main character, Hazel Motes faces external and internal conflicts. Besides having conflict with him, Hazel also has conflict with people around him. It is incongruous that Asa Hawks pretends to blind without any purpose or result he gets.
Suggestion. I would like to suggest the readers to read the novel Wise Blood to understand more clearly about what it is discussed here. Reading the novel, not only the summary will help the readers to get the ideas of this thesis.
I also want to suggest the readers to make a comparison between this novel and other novel from different country so the readers know about different characteristics of grotesque found in their novels and also know about their culture.
Finally, as there are still many grotesque characteristics that are presented by Flannery O’Connor such as: abnormal, strange, fantastic, exaggeration, etc, I suggest the readers to analyze it further based on intrinsic and extrinsic approaches.
The novel, as Richard Taylor says in his book Understanding the Element of Litarature (1981: 46), is the modern or living form of narrative fiction which often shares constructional features, subject matter and themes derived from the epic, romance, allegory and satire, it remains distinctively separates from them. One sub-form of novel, gothic is very popular from the 1760s onwards until the 1820s. Gothic has had a considerable influence on fiction since (still apparent in the 1990s) and is of much importance in the evolution of the ghost story and the horror story. Most Gothic novels are prose forms that contain horror stories or tales of mystery, intended to chill the spine and curdle the blood.
As a subgenre of Gothic style, Southern Gothic could be considered as a style of writing practiced by many writers of the American South whose stories set in that region are characterized by grotesque, macabre, or fantastic incidents (http://en wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Gothic). Like its parent genre, it relies on supernatural, ironic, or unusual events to guide the plot.
Conclusion. Having done my analysis, I come to the conclusion that firstly the grotesque characteristics are reflected in Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood. The main character, Hazel Motes is pictured as an absurd man. Hazel preaches that there is no heaven or hell, and it shows us that life is meaningless for him. Hazel isolates himself from God and does not believe in society’s norm or law. Hazel is also described as a violent person for he is impolite to everyone he meets and kills someone who imitates him. O'Connor gives Enoch Emery, another character in Wise Blood, the monster quality by changing him into Gonga the gorilla, an animal form. Enoch also does evil and gross things, just like a monster that always related to the evil things. Hazel’s irony is that where he started out preaching the Church without Christ he ends up with Christ without a church.
Secondly, the usage of grotesque in this novel is the Southern grotesque. The setting and characters pictured in the novel are taken from the South. As a native of Georgia and a Roman Catholic, O’Connor depicts, in its entire comic and horrendous incongruity, the symbols, and the mysteries of divine grace in the “Christ haunted” Protestant South.
Third, the usage of anti-Christ symbol is found in this novel. Number 666 is one of the symbols that O'Connor uses which symbolizes of the anti-Christ. The last, Wise Blood is a comic novel for it provides a fool or comic figure that gives people pleasure and laughter when they compare themselves to the figure. It is also comic because it has contradictions, conflicts, and incongruity. The contradictions can be found when he wants to seduce Sabbath Lily Hawks but he does not want to, or when he wears a preacher’s suit and hat but he does not want others think that he is a preacher. As the main character, Hazel Motes faces external and internal conflicts. Besides having conflict with him, Hazel also has conflict with people around him. It is incongruous that Asa Hawks pretends to blind without any purpose or result he gets.
Suggestion. I would like to suggest the readers to read the novel Wise Blood to understand more clearly about what it is discussed here. Reading the novel, not only the summary will help the readers to get the ideas of this thesis.
I also want to suggest the readers to make a comparison between this novel and other novel from different country so the readers know about different characteristics of grotesque found in their novels and also know about their culture.
Finally, as there are still many grotesque characteristics that are presented by Flannery O’Connor such as: abnormal, strange, fantastic, exaggeration, etc, I suggest the readers to analyze it further based on intrinsic and extrinsic approaches.
writer and researcher: Melyana
years of research: 2007
native title:
The Analysis Of The
Grotesque Characteristics In Flannery O’connor’s Novel Wise Blood
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