A Quest In Soul

Flannery O'Connor is one of the most unique writers in the postwar America. Wise Blood is her first novel. Based on Frye's ar(?)hetypal theory of displacement, the present thesis aims at elaborating a spiritual quest in soul in the nihilistic modern world.Referring to O'Connor's own assumptions of the spiritual reality of the modern age, the thesis studies the displacement of the biblical archetypes of Enoch Emery and Asa Hawks to reveal the cultural and religious background of the novel. It is a nihilistic world that O'Connor sniffs as surely as Nietzsche did when he declared that God is Dead.As a writer and a pious Catholic, O'Connor feels she must call her contemporaries back from the abyss of nihilism and help them cling to Christ, the Eternal Truth. The protagonist Hazel Motes sets a notable example as one who becomes a solitary explorer and sticks to his spiritual quest throughout his life. Unlike other characters in the novel, all kinds of religions substitutes can never answer his hunger. Hazel re(?)ects the empty religion secularized by the nihilistic world and insists on proclaiming the truth as he perceives it, though it may seem to be in a way of "anti-Christ" apparently. Hazel preaches the existential message that man is essentially a homeless creature who must make his own "place". And Hazel's life is largely an attempt to find that place within himself—searching for his spiritual home. Hazel's journey of quest—from his apparent rejection of Christ at first to his eventual return to the authentic Christian belief—corresponds to an archetypal quest frequently appears in western literature. The displacement of the archetypal quest is fully explored in the thesis to reveal its significance.Besides, Hazel's eyes remain what fascinate other characters most throughout the novel, and he eventually returns to his spiritual home through self-blinding. In darkness, Hazel cuts himself off from the nihilistic world and turns entirely to an inner vision. The significance of Hazel's self-blinding in the modern age is revealed by an exploration on the displacement of the archetype of Oedipus.Through Hazel, O'Connor points out to modern man, who finds himself in the same pain in the nihilistic world, a way to get rid of nihilism through a quest in soul.