"The Blind Owl" Essay

Sadegh Hedayat’s “The Blind Owl” is an exploration of existential and inner despair,
drawing readers into the complex web that is the protagonist’s dreadful psyche. As we
navigate the novel’s obscure landscapes that transcend geographical and cultural
boundaries, two questions emerge in our minds: how do grief & pain manifest itself in the
world; And how can we understand “The Blind Owl” from the perspective of mental
health, while exploring the authorial choices that Hedayat utilized in order to portray the
enigmatic journey of the main character’s mind - both conscious and subconscious.
The perception of an altered reality, alongside the narrator’s peculiar behavior are the
central themes of the story that are represented by the use of motif and symbolism. The
plot starts off with a pen-case lid painter, who perpetually designs the same illustration –
a cypress tree, an old bent man under it and a girl who possesses an unearthly beauty near
a stream. Regardless of the fact that the narrator only ever creates paintings with this
scenery, he fails to recognize the difference between a dream, and reality, “Had I seen the
subject of this picture at some time in the past, or had it been revealed to me in a dream?”
(14). Moreover, cypress trees have a symbolic significance in various cultures and
traditions, representing – mourning and longevity; It is eminent that the narrator is
precisely in that mindset, enduring a life filled with trauma and pain. In addition to the
fact that he’s unable to determine what’s concrete, and what is illusion – he has no sense
of perception of time either. The narrator’s quest to recount his past – traversing through
his childhood & sorrowful marriage, strikes one as an effort to provide the readers of the
chronological sense & order of the story; However, the distinctions between dream,
reality, memory, paranoia and hallucinations become dissolved – creating a distorted
narrative landscape.
The root of the narrator’s pain and grief could be the death of the ethereal woman
whom he had wished to be his life partner; Her sudden demise causing a mental break
down in his inner-being lead to the narrator “severing her head” and “amputating her
arms and legs”(21), like a frantic and delirious individual in the throes of complete loss.
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His consumed mind becomes even more anguished, plunging him in the ultimate state of
utter despair. The narrator feels a never-ending “sensation of nausea” and experiences “a
sense of infinite weariness”(26). The pain and the grief endured by the narrator not only
manifests itself through invading his psyche, but his physical body as well – he hardly
eats, barely sleeps and becomes confined to his mental malady, feeling as though he is
“slowly decomposing while he yet lives”(49). The narrator’s pain and grief affect his
subconscious mind as well, tormenting him with recurrent dreams of getting beheaded;
With the butcher’s knife serving as a symbol for the narrator’s inherent desire to commit
suicide.
The use of tone and linguistics by the narrator, gives us insightful perspective on how
the pain and grief experienced by individuals affect their surroundings, and people too,
ultimately becoming evident in everyone’s tangible reality. In the second part of the
novel, the narrator introduces his wife by calling her a “bitch” and stating how “no other
name would suit her so well”(50). He feels as though his wife has rejected, humiliated
and ridiculed him through her adulterous acts with other men, even though there is no
concrete evidence of this occurring – establishing the narrator as an unreliable one,
suffering from endless recurring thoughts and hallucinations. Ultimately, the narrator’s
pain and trauma manifests itself in his outer world and substantial existence through his
worsening physical conditions, him being stuck in the limbo of dream & reality,
dreaming of dying and him hating his wife – all of these end results stemming from his
deep sense of anguish, which can be comprehended as a mental health disorder and read
through that lens.
The novel's inquiry of mental health, especially through the context of mineral health,
adds a nuance of complexity to the narrative. The narrator, struggling with an immense
sense of nihilism and despair, finds refuge in opium, an addictive substance. The opium
becomes both a literal and metaphorical way of escaping, a means to untether from the
brutal reality of existence and numb the pain that follows along. Understanding “The
Blind Owl” from the perspective of mental health goes hand in hand with analyzing the
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narrator’s behavior and thoughts throughout the story. From the very beginning, he
displays a sense of perplexity amidst the uncertain labyrinth that is – life. The narrator’s
actions and disposition could be interpreted through him suffering from psychosis,
explaining his hallucinations and obsessions that tag along, the inability to differentiate
between dreams and reality, severing a dead body – and the mental aspects of this
disorder taking over his physical form.
In essence, Sadegh Hedayat’s novel “The Blind Owl” is an intricate exploration of

existential dread and mental anguish that delves into the narrator’s disturbed psyche –
creating an image of shattered boundaries between the tangible and intangible, the reality
and dream – through the use of symbolism and motif. The narrative is unveiled in such a
way that the narrator’s pain & grief not only invades his conscious mind, but also
manifests itself in his external reality, affecting him – and those around him.

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Sadegh Hedayat’s “The Blind Owl” is an exploration of existential and inner despair,

In essence, Sadegh Hedayat’s novel “The Blind Owl” is an intricate exploration of

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