Eyes in TVBIA

What interested me the most about this reading was that O'Connor utilized "eyes" even more than in our reading for Monday. She represents the characters' moods through the imagery of their eyes, whether it be through the use of color, light/darkness, or the shape she describes. The schoolteacher sees himself in the face of Tarwater, noticing that the only difference between then is their eyes. He observes, "The face before him was his own, but the eyes were not his own. They were the student's eyes, signed with guilt" (pg. 392). In expressing Tarwater's rage, O'Connor paints her readers a picture through his eyes. "The boy turned very white. His eyes were blackened by the shadow of some unspeakable outrage" (pg. 397). His character represents Old Tarwater in this reading, through the interaction with the schoolteacher, and the evil which comes out through his eyes. When Tarwater notices where Old Tarwater shot the schoolteacher, "he looked up and his gaze fastened on the gash in his uncle's ear. Somewhere in the depths of his eyes a glint appeared. 'Shot yer, didn't he?' he said" (pg. 394). As I was reading today's section, I felt that I got a further glimpse into the characters through O'Connor's portrayal of their eyes, letting us in to their thoughts.