usually from an unlikely source, opens their eyes and offers them a chance at redemption.
For O’Connor, her native-American South is the perfect landscape against which to paint the grotesque characteristics, as the South is a violent place and a
conservative one. O’Connor creates the absurd of the hero, Hazel Motes, who isolates himself from God and does not believe in society’s norm or law, and the
monstrous figure, Enoch Emery who changes himself into gorilla suit. O’Connor uses number 666 to symbolize Hazel of Hazel’s nihilist, and Hazel’s car is to
symbolize Hazel pulpit. There is much violence through the Taulkinham’s people, the irony and comic quality. O’Connor also creates mystery that leaves the readers
with many questions in their mind. I select Wise Blood to be analyzed because I feel interested in the
grotesque characteristics: the monstrous quality, the violent characters, the usage of symbol, the comic element, the irony, the absurdity, and the mystery of
redemption that O’Connor creates in her novel.
1.2 Problem of the Analysis
The problem of the analysis is that the characters’ rejection of Jesus’ existence causes the characters has grotesque characteristics, namely the monster,
violence, absurd, mystery, comic, symbol, and irony we can find in Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood.
Universitas Sumatera Utara
1.3 Objective and Significance of the Analysis
The objective of the analysis is to find out the characters’ rejection of Jesus that causes the characters have grotesque characteristics, such as: monster,
violence, absurd, mystery, comic, symbol, and irony in Wise Blood. In accordance with the title of the thesis, the main purpose of this analysis is to prove that there
are grotesque characteristics in Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood and that theoretically, grotesque exists in literature, not only in art.
1.4 Scope of the Analysis
I will analyze O’Connor’s grotesque characteristics in her Wise Blood. In doing this thesis, I will limit the analyzing by focusing on the characters’ rejection
of Christ that causes grotesque characteristics in Wise Blood: monster, violence, absurd, mystery, comic, symbol, and irony in order to make the discussion will
not go far from the main topic because the scope of literature is very wide.
1.5 Method of Research
I use descriptive method to accomplish this analysis. I do library research. I collect the materials from library and internet. I read the novel. I classify the
characteristics of grotesque. Then I try to find the characteristics of grotesque in speech, actions, and dialogues of the novel. I categorize the speech, actions, and
dialogues based on characteristics of grotesque. At last, I analyze the text based on the grotesque characteristics. In this analysis, sometimes I write explanations of
more than one quotation in one paragraph. I give number for every quotation of
Universitas Sumatera Utara
speech, actions, and dialogues with the intention that the readers could get easier which quotation I mean in the explanations.
According to Wellek and Warren in their book Theory of Literature, there are two kinds of approach in analyzing a literary work. They are extrinsic
approach which relates the literary works to the other subjects such as psychology, society, thought, and biography, and intrinsic approach that is emphasizes on the
elements of literature itself, such as characters, theme, point of view, plot, and others. I use intrinsic method in establishing my analysis, because my analysis is
based on the text of works.
1.6 Review of Related Literature
