There are many widely recognized characteristics that are part of Southern literature and are present in Flannery O'Connor's novel Wise Blood. Among the most familiar characteristics of Southern literature is an imagery-based writing style. Another common characteristic that can be drawn from Southern literature is the struggle to understand the difference between what is real human experience and what is believed to be real, as well as the man/God relationship. Flannery O'Connor's use of consistent imagery reinforces one of the major themes of Wise Blood: that man seems to be only scratching the surface of things, and not seeing deeper. The novel begins with Hazel Motes, the key character in the novel, on board. a train seeking to find some kind of truth. On the train, Hazel "looks out the window one minute as if he wanted to jump out, and the next down the aisle, at the other end of the car" (9). This is the first time ocular imagery comes into play, as not only are the characters' eyes an important feature of the novel, but also what they are looking at. In fact, the first five paragraphs are filled with a plethora of eye references. “Haze looked at her for a second,” then “looked down the length of the car again” (9). Mrs. Wally Bee Hitchcock "turned around to see what was there, but all she saw was a child looking around one of the sections and up at the end from the car, the doorman opening the cupboard where the sheets were kept” (9 -10). “He did not answer her and did not move his eyes from what he was looking at” (10). “But it was her eyes that held his attention the longest. Their decorations were so profound that they seemed to him almost like passages leading somewhere in the middle of a paper...that Christ Jesus had redeemed him” (112), and also, as he tells his landlady, Mme. Flood, “if there is no substance in your eyes, there is more in them” (222). Mrs. Flood's residence is where Hazel spends her final days. In a possible act of repentance, Hazel invests in his passionate belief in suffering as he binds himself, puts stones and glass in his shoes, and sleeps with barbed wire around his chest. Wanting to make some quick money, Mrs. Flood considers asking Hazel to marry her, but ends up developing strong feelings for her. After telling Hazel about his wedding plans, Hazel wanders off for three days until the cops find him on the side of the road barely conscious. Hazel dies while being driven back to Mrs. Flood's house, where her body is brought back. That's when Mrs. Flood decides that Hazel can stay as long as he wants, and for free..