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Definition of Motif
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of related symbols, help develop the central themes of a book... read full definition
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of related symbols, help develop the... read full definition
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of... read full definition
Motifs
Explanation and Analysis—Eyes, Sight, Blindness:
Throughout the novel, O'Connor puts great emphasis on eyes and blindness. The narrator pays close attention to what the characters' eyes look like and what they're looking at, and the characters frequently seem bothered when other characters gaze at them. The characters are also bothered when other characters suggest that they can't see clearly, which introduces a distinction between literal sight and a more spiritual or metaphysical kind of sight. Through this motif, O'Connor foreshadows Hazel's self-inflicted blindness at the end of the novel.
When a new character is introduced, the narrator often describes their eyes by way of comparisons. Over the course of the novel, characters' eyes are likened to pecans, bottle glass, fleas, quicksand, mud, bullet holes, slate, and ice. Additionally, the narrator repeatedly describes characters being watched by eyes. Sometimes, the eyes look at each other.
In the fifth chapter, Hazel is perturbed by the experience of an owl watching him with one eye—so much so that he talks to it. When Enoch meets Gonga the Gorilla and thinks he's about to look into a pair of animal eyes, he's horrified to see "an ugly pair of human ones." The humiliation of this moment is part of what compels him to commit murder later in the novel. Meeting the gaze of the other represents the uncomfortable experience of discovery and truth. Just as looking into the Gonga's eyes reveals to Enoch that he isn't dealing with a real gorilla, Hazel discovers that Asa Hawks's blindness is fake when he sneaks into his room, lights a match, and their "two sets of eyes [look] at each other."
The characters often seem disturbed by each other's gazes. When Hazel and Sabbath meet for the second time, for example, he charges her with giving him "fast eye." The third time they meet, she reverses the charge: "It was you give me the eye." Ironically, it turns out that Hazel's eyes are exactly what draws Sabbath to him: "I like his eyes. [...] They don't look like they see what he's looking at but they keep on looking."
This idea of eyes that can't see appears repeatedly in the novel. To begin with, there are multiple blind (or seemingly blind) characters, such as Asa Hawks, Enoch's landlady, and eventually Hazel himself. When Hazel and Hawks first meet in the third chapter, Hawks claims that Hazel's "got eyes and see not." Hazel becomes fixated on proving that he can see, and he cries out to the crowd, "Don't I have eyes in my head? Am I a blind man?" In the novel's early chapters, he uses eyesight as praise, like when he tells the one-armed man that his car was "built by people with their eyes open." He also claims his church is one in which "the blind don't see." Hazel's obsessions with sight and blindness, as well as other characters' claims that he can't see, foreshadow his blindness at the end of the novel.
Eventually, even if he discovers that Hawks is merely feigning his blindness, Hazel seems to conclude that Hawks is right in suggesting that he can't see. In the Chapter 14, after he's blinded himself, he ironically suggests to Mrs. Flood that she can't see. In these moments, O'Connor explores the weighty symbolism of sight and blindness in Christianity. Hazel believes he only becomes capable of sight after he is blind. Although Mrs. Flood "liked to see things," she gradually accepts his claim that he sees things that she can't see: "To her, the blind man had the look of seeing something."
Related Themes:
Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—Visions of Jesus:
Hazel and Enoch imagine Jesus in contrasting ways. While Hazel fears Jesus and therefore sees him as a wild figure in the dark, Enoch's view of Jesus corresponds more closely with that of Christian iconography. This motif gives insight into the wide range of relationships that the characters have with faith, religion, and God. Both Hazel and Enoch associate Jesus with a mix of fear and longing.
In the first chapter, the narrator describes the childhood experiences that shaped Hazel's religious beliefs. His plan to become a preacher is a result of his desire to get away from Jesus rather than a desire to get close to him. Thus, his fear has the ironic effect of making him obsessed with Jesus. O'Connor depicts Hazel's fear by describing his childhood vision of Jesus:
Later he saw Jesus move from tree to tree in the back of his mind, a wild ragged figure motioning him to turn around and come off into the dark where he was not sure of his footing, where he might be walking on the water and not know it and then suddenly know it and drown.
Hazel's vision of Jesus clashes with the Christian depiction of Jesus in many respects. While Jesus is typically associated with light, Hazel sees him as a ragged figure beckoning him into the dark. In Hazel's mind, Jesus leads him onto a dangerous path, rather than making the path clearer and safer. Moreover, Hazel doesn't find the idea of Jesus walking on water miraculous, but instead sees it as another way for Jesus to mislead him and drag him into peril. As a result of this fear, however, Hazel winds up becoming excessively fixated on Jesus.
In the third chapter, Enoch evokes another view of Jesus when he claims that his father looks like him:
“My daddy looks just like Jesus,” Enoch remarked from the lion’s back. “His hair hangs to his shoulders. Only difference is he’s got a scar acrost his chin.
According to Enoch, nearly everything about his father resembles Jesus. Unlike Hazel, Enoch has accepted the typical depiction of Jesus as fact. He takes comfort in this depiction, collapsing his view of his father with his view of Jesus.
Soon after, however, the reader realizes that there's a dark underside to Enoch's comparison, as it turns out that his father is abusive. Enoch loves and misses his father, but he's also scared of him. Although Enoch and Hazel imagine Jesus in very different ways, they both have a mix of fear and longing wrapped up in these visions.
Related Themes:
Chapter 3
Explanation and Analysis—Visions of Jesus:
Hazel and Enoch imagine Jesus in contrasting ways. While Hazel fears Jesus and therefore sees him as a wild figure in the dark, Enoch's view of Jesus corresponds more closely with that of Christian iconography. This motif gives insight into the wide range of relationships that the characters have with faith, religion, and God. Both Hazel and Enoch associate Jesus with a mix of fear and longing.
In the first chapter, the narrator describes the childhood experiences that shaped Hazel's religious beliefs. His plan to become a preacher is a result of his desire to get away from Jesus rather than a desire to get close to him. Thus, his fear has the ironic effect of making him obsessed with Jesus. O'Connor depicts Hazel's fear by describing his childhood vision of Jesus:
Later he saw Jesus move from tree to tree in the back of his mind, a wild ragged figure motioning him to turn around and come off into the dark where he was not sure of his footing, where he might be walking on the water and not know it and then suddenly know it and drown.
Hazel's vision of Jesus clashes with the Christian depiction of Jesus in many respects. While Jesus is typically associated with light, Hazel sees him as a ragged figure beckoning him into the dark. In Hazel's mind, Jesus leads him onto a dangerous path, rather than making the path clearer and safer. Moreover, Hazel doesn't find the idea of Jesus walking on water miraculous, but instead sees it as another way for Jesus to mislead him and drag him into peril. As a result of this fear, however, Hazel winds up becoming excessively fixated on Jesus.
In the third chapter, Enoch evokes another view of Jesus when he claims that his father looks like him:
“My daddy looks just like Jesus,” Enoch remarked from the lion’s back. “His hair hangs to his shoulders. Only difference is he’s got a scar acrost his chin.
According to Enoch, nearly everything about his father resembles Jesus. Unlike Hazel, Enoch has accepted the typical depiction of Jesus as fact. He takes comfort in this depiction, collapsing his view of his father with his view of Jesus.
Soon after, however, the reader realizes that there's a dark underside to Enoch's comparison, as it turns out that his father is abusive. Enoch loves and misses his father, but he's also scared of him. Although Enoch and Hazel imagine Jesus in very different ways, they both have a mix of fear and longing wrapped up in these visions.
Related Themes:
