8th Annual WML Academic Symposium

Time: 2:00
Room: 312
Presenter(s): Jared Genzel
Title: Unclean: Flannery O’Connor’s Depictions of PTSD in Wise Blood
Developed under the guidance of Dr. Sherry Truffin , English

Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor follows the journey of protagonist and WW2 veteran Hazel Motes. While the novel was published decades before research on PTSD, Motes’ behavior throughout the novel seems to correctly align with our modern understanding of posttraumatic stress disorder. O’Connor’s anachronistically accurate depiction of a suffering veteran demonstrates the value of using fictional literature to further understand the human condition.