Previous
Symbols
Hazel’s hat is an outward sign of his outsider status. It is consistently described as “fierce,” and leads many to mistake him for a preacher. Halfway through the novel, he buys himself a new hat, this one all white, as a sign of his new direction with the Church Without Christ, but it does nothing to change his outsider status. The hat is also a sign of Hazel’s spiritual calling, and is often used to highlight a contrast with the baser, more animal nature of the people around him.
Hazel’s Hat Quotes in Wise Blood
The Wise Blood quotes below all refer to the symbol of Hazel’s Hat. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 3
Quotes
Mrs. Watts’ grin was as curved and sharp as the blade of a sickle. It was plain that she was so well-adjusted that she didn’t have to think anymore. Her eyes took everything in whole, like quicksand. “That Jesus-seeing hat!” she said. She sat up and pulled her nightgown from under her and took it off. She reached for his hat and put it on her head and sat with her hands on her hips, walling her eyes in a comical way. Haze stared for a minute, then he made three quick noises that were laughs. He jumped for the electric light cord and took off his clothes in the dark.
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Chapter 10
Quotes
Then he slid his legs under the cover by her and sat there as if he were waiting to remember one more thing. She was breathing very quickly. “Take off your hat, king of the beasts,” she said gruffly and her hand came up behind his head and snatched the hat off and sent it flying across the room in the dark.
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Hazel’s Hat Symbol Timeline in Wise Blood
The timeline below shows where the symbol Hazel’s Hat appears in Wise Blood. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...begins to make observations about him: he is wearing a new, blue suit, a stiff hat like a country preacher’s, and the army duffel bag at his feet suggests that he...
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Hazel sits, “glum and intense,” not removing his hat, and the women laugh at him when he orders improperly. They are smoking, and Hazel...
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Hazel took the first train home he could find, and bought himself the suit and hat along the way, stuffing his army uniform into a trashbox. When at last he arrived...
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Chapter 2
...been left behind by the train. He had run after the departing train, but his hat flew off, and he had to stop to retrieve it. In the city, he is...
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...there—“she don’t usually have no preachers for company,” he explains. Hazel frowns, telling the driver that he is not a preacher, but the driver persists, telling Hazel that the hat, and...
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Chapter 3
Enoch is sure that Hazel is a wealthy man and tells him so, but Hazel remains silent. Enoch goes...
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...he opens the door. When Mrs. Watts sees him, she laughs. Hazel puts on his hat before entering, but takes it off when it knocks against the electric light. He moves...
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Chapter 4
...lots before they open, ignoring any salesmen, his face fragile and intense beneath his black hat. There are no cars to be found for fifty dollars, until Hazel reaches a near-junkyard...
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Chapter 5
...to see it, and recognizes Hazel emerging stiffly from the car in his suit and hat. Hazel sits down on the grass. “Well I’ll be dog,” Enoch says, and scrambles out...
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Chapter 6
...the young girl. If he sees his daughter ruined, Hazel thinks, then Asa will understand that Hazel is serious about the Church Without Christ. Hazel is also tired of Mrs. Watts,...
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Chapter 7
...virtuous and kind, had a vision of its grandmother in hellfire, and it told her what it saw, but her swelling – a reaction to the good in the child -...
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Chapter 9
...lasts, with Hazel’s eyes opening “onto a deeper blankness.” Hawks then jabs at him, saying that now Hazel can leave him alone. Hazel’s expressionless face moves back under his white hat.
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Chapter 10
...floor. He slides under the covers with her. Breathing quickly, Sabbath says, “Take off your hat, king of the beasts,” and snatches off the hat, throwing it across the room.
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Chapter 11
At noon the next day a figure in a long black raincoat with a lightish hat pulled down over his face is moving rapidly through the streets, a bundle about the...
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...third time, this time grabbing the little man and throwing him against the wall, so that his head pops off and the trash inside sprays out. Sabbath yells, as Hazel grabs...
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Chapter 13
Hazel tells him to take off the hat. Beginning to cough, Solace asks him to stop staring and say what he wants. Hazel...
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Chapter 14
...to keep him. She has grown used to watching his face and trying to see what is really behind his eyes. One day, the coldest of that winter, she goes to...
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