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ornamental line

One Truth

"'I preach there are all kinds of truth, your truth and somebody else's,
but behind all of them, there's only one truth
and that is that there's no truth'" (93).
Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood (1952)


Points for Reflection

The Bible: Matthew 5:1-30

  1. In ancient times, salt collected from the Dead Sea carried plenty of impurities; rain or moisture could dissolve the real salt out of the mixture and leave behind a tasteless white powder. By comparing his followers to salt which can potentially lose its saltiness, what is Jesus suggesting about relationship with him?
  2. Why does Jesus promote moral behavior?
  3. In one breath Jesus says that he fulfills the Levitical laws and that no one can follow the laws perfectly, then adds that no one can enter the kingdom of heaven whose righteousness does not exceed "that of the scribes and Pharisees" (v.20, NRSV). Is what he asks, then, impossible?
  4. Jesus pushes through Ten Commandment proscriptions against murder and adultery to discover what?
  5. What does Jesus consider more important than leaving a sacrifice at an altar?
  6. Is the truth Jesus articulates when discussing adultery literal?


Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood (1952), chps 10-12

  1. Haze attempts to dismiss Christian ideas including the fall of Adam and Eve, redemption, and the judgment by declaring that if they existed they would be evident where?
  2. What about Hoover Shoat’s companion locks hold of Haze’s attention?
  3. Why does Sabbath come on to Haze so strongly?
  4. Why does Enoch Emory put on black face?
  5. What does Enoch think will be the consequence of this particular act of theft?
  6. Why does Enoch want to insult Gonga, and what obstacles lie before him?
  7. How does Sabbath respond to the presence of the “new jesus”?
  8. What does Haze avoid touching when handling the contents of his duffel bag to fish out his mother’s glasses?
  9. Enoch’s hope that the “new jesus” will reward him for his services is composed of what two qualities?
  10. What lies at the root of Enoch’s strange actions?
  11. Why does Enoch bury his clothes?
  12. Does Enoch’s new stance and appearance have the desired effect?


Salvador Dalí's The Endless Enigma (1938)

  1. How many object configurations can you identify in this painting?
  2. Do these various images seem thematically interrelated, or random and unconnected?
  3. Does a painting like this make you trust your sight more, or less?


Robert Browning's "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came" (1852; 1855)

  1. How many object configurations can you identify in this painting?
  2. Does Childe Roland correctly assess the character of the man who provides him directions in the opening to “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came”?
  3. What now motivates Roland as he continues to push forward on his long quest?
  4. What is the epic simile of stanzas 5-6 (ll.25-36) intended to illustrate?
  5. Do any events in the poem appear unrealistic, fantastic even?
  6. What does Nature, personified by the narrator, say is the only cure for the wasteland?
  7. Why does the narrator respond with hate to the horse he encounters (stanzas 13-14)?
  8. How helpful do Roland's memories prove in motivating him to push forward?
  9. Do the river and opposite bank across which Roland travels provide a respite from the depressingly wasted terrain through which he has been trudging (stanzas 19-24)?
  10. Just after Roland notes a black bird flying overhead and wonders whether it is the guide he has been seeking, he realizes he has arrived at the tower. What else might the bird represent, besides a guide?
  11. Is the noise which surrounds Roland at the poem's close a product of an actual bell being tolled, or a function of his imagination?
  12. Is Roland actually surrounded by the spirits of dead adventurers in the final stanza?
  13. Does the poem conclude on a triumphant or tragic note?
  14. Do the various surroundings through which the narrator has traversed reflect the narrator’s emotional state? Do they ever provide a point of contrast for his thoughts?
  15. What might be the significance of the "dark tower"? What of the journey itself? Does the poem lend itself to allegorical interpretation?
  16. From what play by Shakespeare was the title of this poem drawn? Does knowing the play and its contents inflect the way you read this poem?


Two elephants with elongated legs rise high into a reddish-orangish sky
The Endless Enigma (1938)
oil on canvas
Salvador Dali



Dr. Paul Marchbanks
pmarchba@calpoly.edu