Religion In The Exorcist

In William Peter Blatty’s novel, The Exorcist, a thirteen year old girl becomes ill. The mother, Chris MacNeil, believes that her daughter is possessed by a demon after doctors are unable to diagnose the child. Mrs. MacNeil seeks help from Father Karras after the doctors tell her to go to a priest. Father Karras, a priest and psychiatrist, declined the idea of performing an exorcism on the girl after Mrs. MacNeil asked him for the favor. Father Karras tried to reason with Mrs. MacNeil that the girl, Regan MacNeil, was likely to have a mental illness. Father Karras finally agreed to perform the exorcism after he was unable to diagnose Regan. In his novel, The Exorcist, William Peter Blatty argues that religion is the antidote to supernatural

Chris MacNeil was the first to suggest an exorcism as the solution after a doctor recommended her to go to a church for help (Blatty 224). Since Chris was desperate for her daughter, she seeks help from a religious person despite her beliefs. Chris discovered symptoms of possession that matched Regan’s state; the symptoms of the possessed “mimic [the possessing spirit’s] gestures, voice and mannerism” and “speak in languages unknown to the first personality” (Blatty 195). Because Regan’s behavior matched the behavior of a possessed person, she immediately thinks that an exorcism is the solution. According to Graham Dwyer’s The Divine And The Demonic: Supernatural Affliction And Its Treatment In North India, the inner self of the possessed is “identified with [the] spirit” (86). Regan acts as if she is the demon in which the demon takes control of Regan’s inner self and is present more often. Besides Chris’ discovery, Father Karras reads about the symptoms of a person who is possessed by an evil spirit

Signs of possession may be the following: ability to speak with some facility in a strange language or understand it when spoken by another; the faculty of divulging future and hidden events; display of powers which are beyond the subject’s age and natural condition; and various other conditions which, when taken together as a whole, build up

When Father Karras and Father Merrin were going to start the exorcism, Father Merrin advises Father Karras to ignore the demon and ignore any emotions that he may experience (Blatty 337). In order to have a successful exorcism, the exorcists must not give in to the remarks that the demon makes. When an exorcism is being performed, “a certain atmosphere of breathless and unexplainable dread of outer, unknown forces [are] present” (Lovecraft 15). Because the characters think that the exorcism is the solution, there is tension among those who present in the room. During the exorcism, Father Karras and Chris experience different emotions. Also, during the exorcism, Father Karras was being emotionally attacked by the supernatural evil by pretending to be Father Karras’ deceased mother (Blatty 354). The demon will attempt to stop the exorcists by attacking them emotionally. Father Karras ended up arguing with the demon as if he was speaking to his mother (Blatty 356). Father Karras was not emotionally stable to perform the exorcism since he argued with the demon. When one is exposed to “one’s stream of thought one cannot distinguish between what has been and what is now taking place” (Dwyer 41). Father Karras replied to the supernatural evil because he believed that he was speaking to his mother. The priests have to ignore the evil spirit in order