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Chandler Phipps

Dr. Napolitano

Senior Seminar

10/14/18

AND LET MY CRY COME UNTO THEE: The Role of Faith in The Exorcist

In 1971, William Peter Blatty introduced the world to a new kind of terror within the

pages of his controversial novel, The Exorcist. Telling the tale of an innocent young girl

becoming possessed by a threatening demonic entity which torments her and those around her,

the novel quickly spawned a cult following and the later film adaptation proved to be an

immense success in the field of horror cinema, and it is considered a classic today. When

attempting to piece together Blatty’s intentions in writing such a horrific novel, his purpose may

remain unclear to the reader. While many theories may be examined in the context of The

Exorcist, a particularly strong theme prevalent in both certainty and subtlety is the concept and

importance of faith. While faith can be considered an ambiguous term, there is a great deal of

emphasis on faith in its many forms throughout The Exorcist, whether it be faith in a higher

power, faith in oneself, or faith in loved ones. Blatty’s novel depicts characters that experience

both a lack of faith and an eventual rekindling of said faith, and the actions of these characters

depend heavily on faith as they grow to both find peace and rekindle their faith, as well as have

their individual struggles with faith targeted and exploited as they battle with a demonic force

that threatens all who dare to challenge it, especially those with little faith to protect them.

Discussing the word “faith” in a general sense can be somewhat difficult, because it can

be considered a somewhat broad term. Faith can be interpreted in many different ways and

displayed in many different forms and contexts, depending on influences such as culture and
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religion, but for the purposes of this academic essay, I will focus my argument around a few

particular definitions that I have pulled from the Oxford English Dictionary. As a noun, the OED

describes faith in one way as:

Belief, trust, confidence. Belief in and acceptance of the doctrines of a religion, typically

involving belief in a god or gods and in the authenticity of divine religion. Also the

capacity to spiritually apprehend divine truths, or realities beyond the limits of perception

or of logical proof, viewed either as a faculty of the human soul, or as the result of divine

illumination(OED).

As per The Exorcist and its context, this is the definition that would most obviously be

prevalent within a novel concerning the exorcism of a demonic entity through Catholic ritual,

and some critics such as Joseph Laycock, even point out that “The Exorcist had such cultural

significance because it portrayed contemporary American fold piety at a historical moment when

a narrative of secularization had become a dominant cultural myth”(Laycock 4). The intense

supernatural occurrences within the novel would have instilled a new sense of both terror and

wonder into the religious perspective of a society which, at the time, was considered to be

heavily embracing secularism. In this sense, Blatty’s novel also served the purpose of rekindling

religious faith in its readers, whether through intentional means or not.

Although ideas of religious faith are prevalent throughout The Exorcist, solely religious

context is not the only definition through which the novel exhibits faith. The OED also lists faith

being described as “A system of (non-religious) belief; a set of firmly held principles, ideals, or

beliefs; a creed. Usually with modifying word.” In this sense, the same firm belief that one

would hold towards a religious figure or philosophy may be applied to any figures or

philosophies outside the realm of religion, and one can, in theory, have faith in any number of
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entities. This is where William Peter Blatty’s unifying theme of faith becomes prevalent within

The Exorcist, as several characters experience a struggle with faith, whether or not in a religious

context. The concept of faith, as it is used in the novel, can be applied to not just God, but in

another trusted figure, or even in oneself, and through their struggles that follow their lapses with

faith, Blatty stresses to the reader the importance of keeping faith to light one’s way through

times of turmoil. While this importance in faith may seem common knowledge to some, certain

types of faith may be viewed as unhealthy or as rooted within falsehood, such is a common

argument for the promotion of atheism as opposed to spirituality, and atheists may argue that a

strong faith in religious doctrine may reflect as poor mental health, an argument that becomes a

major debate within the mind of one of The Exorcist’s most important characters.

Religion in the context of mental health remains a controversial topic, as religion often

relies on dependence in what cannot be physically seen and observed, much the opposite of what

is generally accepted as mentally stable. Curiosity surrounding the relationship between

psychology and religion is not merely limited to psychoanalytic researchers; men of the cloth

also find themselves drawn to the study of how religion affects human psychology and our

understandings of the natural world so that they may find better ways to effectively communicate

their doctrine to an audience who may be skeptical of such religious rhetoric. The Jesuit

priesthood, of which this discourse is often analyzed, is introduced within The Exorcist through

the character of Father Damien Karras, one of the novel’s main characters, and one whom

struggles with the most obvious questioning of faith during the story. Blatty himself attended the

Catholic Jesuit college of Georgetown University that he includes in his novel, fittingly

providing an ideal setting for a character such as Father Karras(Hurley 104). Karras has the

interesting point of being not only a Jesuit priest, but also a psychiatrist, employed at the
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university where he resides. Karras’ personality is quickly revealed during his first appearance in

the novel, where he is depicted as a priest with a “chipped, sad face”(Blatty 49) waiting patiently

at a subway platform for his train that would “still the ache that was always with him”(Blatty

49). He encounters a drunken, homeless man who attempts to goad him into giving him some

sort of money or resources, repeating several times: “I’m a Cat’lic, Faddah!” Karras’ inner

thoughts reveal him to detest the encounter entirely, wishing for the man to not approach him at

all, knowing that “he would whine”(Blatty 49). In a reluctant manner, and so as not to appear

heartless amidst his position as a man of the cloth, Karras shoves a measly dollar into the man’s

pocket to appease him enough, and Karras’ first impression upon the reader is one of a man who

seems to struggle with empathy.

Karras’ behavior here appears quite unbecoming of a priest, but Blatty soon reveals the

several struggles that Karras is facing, and how his faith has faltered, even among his position as

a priest. Karras is the only character to directly state “I think I’ve lost my faith,”(Blatty 52) when

he asks the University President for permission to relocate to New York and quit his job as a

psychiatrist, feeling weary and unfit to provide any real help to the clients which he is bound to.

Although he is not questioned as to why his faith is faltering, Karras is very aware of what his

responses would be, listing such occurrences as “The need to rend food with the teeth and then

defecate. My mother’s nine First Fridays. Stinking socks. Thalidomoide babies. An item in the

paper about a young alter boy waiting at a bus stop; set on by strangers; sprayed with kerosene;

ignited. No. No, too emotional. Vague. Existential. More rooted in logic was the silence of

God”(Blatty 52). Karras’ lack of faith appears to stem from grievances with an almighty God

who would stay silent while the injustices of the world play out, and it reveals a human
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vulnerability within Karras, so that even his devotion to God cannot save him from doubting

God’s intentions.

While Karras’ thoughts on God may seem unusual to a reader unfamiliar with the Jesuit

priesthood, it is worth noting that traditional Catholic Jesuit doctrine does indeed incorporate

logic that is not entirely rooted in blind faith into their dialectic on the presence of God. Hurley’s

study on how the Jesuits combine rhetoric and dialectic describes the Jesuit society as

“concerned with cross-cultural communication and persuasion in relation to social justice issues

and inquiry-fueled education.” The Jesuits value their ability to combine their communication of

Catholic doctrine with effective communication through philosophical reasoning(Hurley 104).

Catholic doctrine often looks for reasonable explanations to use in communicating the idea of

God, not just relying on blind faith or irrational superstition alone(105). Being a psychiatrist,

Karras would already be well-versed in philosophical reasoning and effective communication, so

it is only natural that the combined influences of both his practice and of his position as a

clergyman would struggle against his understanding of a divine being.

Karras’ doubts within his faith in a divine being are directly challenged when he

encounters the possessed Regan MacNeil in the later sections of the novel. Regan’s case was one

of immense fascination for Karras, who valued rational explanation for mysterious events above

all else. Encountering something so grotesque and monster-like undoubtedly instilled both great

curiosity and fear into Karras, due to the fact that, as Jeffrey Cohen describes in his seven theses

on monster culture, “the monster [in the context of the demon Pazuzu] refuses easy

categorization,” and that, since it cannot be easily understood, it is most likely to be incredibly

dangerous(Cohen 20). The happenings and terrible events involved with demonic possession are

ones that defy easy explanation, as much as her doctors and Karras may try to explain her
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condition, and so is Karras’ thought process rooted in logic that, when approached by Chris

MacNeil with the request of an attempted exorcism on her daughter, Karras is shocked at her

proposal, explaining to her that the practice of exorcism “just doesn’t happen anymore…Since

we learned about mental illness and schizophrenia and split personality; all those things that they

taught me at Harvard”(Blatty 215). From a medical standpoint, Karras intended to diagnose

Regan with a mental illness that would explain all of her symptoms, even after multiple

physicians and neurologists had examined her and come up with no credible explanation for her

behavior. Still, Karras was soon face-to-face with the young girl who had become a vessel for the

demonic entity Pazuzu, and he was met with an onslaught of irrational occurrences in the young

girl’s demeanor that would challenge his doubts of the lack of both a God and a Devil.

Demonic possession in general consists of multiple characteristics that are also applicable

to many mental illnesses, thus making Karras’ analysis of Regan one of considerable difficulty.

Brian Levack’s 2014 Social Research article on Witchcraft and Demonic Possession outlines

many of the most common symptoms associated with demonic possession throughout history,

explaining that allegedly possessed victims have experienced:

convulsions, muscular contortions, preternatural strength, and vomiting of extraneous

substances. They conversed in languages of which they had no previous knowledge,

spoke in deep, beastly voices that differed from their normal voices, displayed contempt

for sacred objects, uttered blasphemies, went into trances, and foresaw the future. In a

few cases they were reported to have levitated.(Levack 925)

Regan experiences all of these same symptoms throughout the duration of the novel, many of

which Karras makes note of when he initially observes and speaks with her. She speaks with a

rhetoric that far surpasses that of an average young girl, and she also appears to be well-versed in
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Latin, a language which she has never learned to speak prior. The faithless and skeptical priest is

particularly shaken when Regan directly acknowledges his lack of faith without any prior

knowledge of him, goading him with:

REGAN. Undo [my restraints] and I’ll tell you the future.

KARRAS. Very tempting

REGAN. My forte.

KARRAS. But then how do I know you really can read the future?

REGAN. Because I’m the Devil, you ass!

KARRAS. Yes, you say so, but you won’t give me proof.

REGAN. You have no faith.

KARRAS. No faith in what?

REGAN. Why in me, my dear Karras; in me! All these proofs, all these signs in the

sky!(Blatty 221)

Regan reveals much personal knowledge of Karras’ character, much to his surprise, but also

causes Karras to reveal an important detail about himself amidst their conversation. Karras’

remark of “you won’t give me proof”(221) shows that he is indeed looking for just that: physical,

undeniable proof that the little girl before him is possessed by a demonic entity from hell,

completely outside the realm of what any applied science or logical understanding can hope to

make sense of, as is

Also outside of the realm of logical explanation, and perhaps the revelation that surprises

Karras the most during his encounter with Regan, is when she directly references the death of his

mother, which had taken place prior to Karras ever meeting her. She taunts him with, “Oh,

incidentally, your mother is in here with us, Karras. Would you like to leave a message? I will
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see that she gets it”(Blatty 224). Karras is later chilled that Regan somehow has knowledge of

his mother’s passing, even though they had never met before, and she certainly would not have

known his mother, who lived far away in New York. The demon Pazuzu later mocks Karras

further during the exorcism, when he causes Regan to take on the persona of Karras’ mother and

ask him, “Why you do dis to me, Dimmy?...You leave me to be priest, Dimmy; send me

institution…You always good boy, Dimmy. Please! I am ‘fraid! Please no chase me outside,

Dimmy! Please!”(347) Karras has to repeatedly assure himself that it is not his mother, and

barely maintains his composure. The utterance of both knowledge about his mother and of the

advanced language and rhetorical ability that Regan exhibits chills Karras, as he can find no

immediately rational explanation for her behavior, leaving him only to speculate possession, an

irrational and superstitious belief upheld by faith, to be the cause.

The demon Pazuzu exists as an irrational being that challenges Karras’ doubts of a God,

but it also simultaneously taunts him of his mother’s death to attack another figure in which

Karras lacks faith: himself. When he is shown visiting his mother in her apartment, the mere

visitation gives him discomfort and “a sudden draining weariness that he knew was caused by

guilt. He should never have left her. Not alone”(Blatty 50). Karras’ mother is revealed to be

suffering from edema, which leaves her mentally unstable in her old age, and this situation

leaves Karras with few options to care for her, as he is unable to visit her more frequently due to

his duties working at the university taking up much of his time. His mother’s poor health also

contributes to his desire to relocate to New York, to be closer to her, but his failure to do so

creates a sense of powerlessness within him and a loss of confidence in his ability to care for his

mother in her time of need. His inability to care for her properly and the emotions that he

experiences during his time caring for her manifests, according to Murphy, as caregiver burden,
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or the stress associated with caregiving(Murphy 239). Karras’ lack of faith in his spirituality also

contributes negatively to his perception of his mother’s situation. According to research from

Murphy, “religion facilitate[s] coping with adverse life events by providing cognitive appraisals

of negative situations, hope for miracles and support from God and congregation

members”(240). Without his faith in God, Karras has little personal traits to save him from the

overwhelming guilt of his mother’s eventual passing.

This guilt manifests fully when Karras’ mother passes away from her illness, leaving him

in a state of hopelessness as he feels as though he could have taken better care of her. When

Karras’ uncle attempts to reassure him that “she’s in heaven now, Dimmy. She’s happy,” Karras

thinks to himself: “Oh, God, let it be! Ah, God! Ah, please! Oh, God, please be!”(Blatty 89) In

that moment, Karras showed doubts that his mother would make it into heaven, as well as doubts

of the existence of such a place or of a God at all, indicated by his plea of “Oh, God, please be!”

He had lost faith in himself for allowing her to suffer and die alone, and he had lost faith in his

God which made it incredibly difficult to come to terms with the reality of the situation.

Karras’ relationship with his mother strained his faith and confidence in himself, and as a

result, this caused the demon Pazuzu to mock this vulnerability, a vulnerability that the demon is

able to identify in another character experiencing similar struggles with faith. The subject of the

exorcism, Regan MacNeil, experiences a similar struggle in her paternal relationships, and

through this internal struggle and the feeling of helplessness that arises from such an occurrence,

Regan experiences an emotional and spiritual vulnerability that the demon Pazuzu eventually

uses to his advantage in order to grow closer to Regan so that he could eventually overtake her

body and spirit. This relationship would later take a dangerous turn as the helpless Regan
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becomes possessed by the demonic entity, resulting in many of the major events that would lead

the novel.

Regan’s original character is seen unaltered by the demon only briefly throughout the

novel, but while her character may seem difficult to analyze based on her “screen time” alone,

there are several important details that Blatty provides, as well as psychological perspectives on

her situation that we can use in order to gain a clearer picture of Regan’s perspective on the

things she struggles with. Regan’s character is first introduced when her mother Chris awakens

to find a rose on her plate in the kitchen: “A blush-red rose against its whiteness. Regan. That

angel. Many a morning, when Chris was working, Regan would quietly slip out of bed, come

down to the kitchen and place a flower on her mother’s empty plate and then grope her way

crusty-eyed back to her sleep”(Blatty 13). Regan is shown to have a very deep attachment to

Chris from the start of the story, and she often makes various crafts and gifts for her mother,

repeatedly showering her with affection. Likewise, Chris tries her very best to reciprocate this

affection to her daughter amidst her schedule, which remains quite busy considering she is a

famous actress in the process of shooting for a film during the events of the novel and is forced

to Juggle her busy schedule with family time.

With her father absent, Regan’s faith in a secure family environment would be greatly

shaken, and it would be quite natural for her to latch on to her mother in order to receive the lost

attention that she no longer receives from her father. Yet, it can be argued that Chris’ work life

may cause her to sometimes neglect Regan, albeit unintentional neglect. Whether intentional or

not, any neglect towards Regan, who is already suffering from the effects of her parents’ divorce,

would surely further affect her faith and philosophy of a secure family image. Even if Chris may

have not intentionally neglected her daughter, the effects of this potential neglect on Regan’s
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mental state remain the same regardless of her mother’s intentions. With this in mind, however,

the image of Chris neglecting Regan can be a difficult idea to solidify, however, as Friedman and

Billick describe child neglect as “not hav[ing] a consistent, universally accepted

definition”(Friedman and Billick 253). They also describe that various factors present in the life

of a parent can increase the chances of child neglect taking place, one factor being parental

stress, which the consistently busy Chris MacNeil would have surely experienced on an almost

daily basis.

Even though her time with Chris is sometimes limited by Chris’ acting schedule, Regan’s

attachment to her mother appears so tightly-knit at times, that critics such as Allison M. Kelly

argue that there may even be evidence of an oedipal-like attachment within Regan which may

manifest itself through a multitude of her actions throughout her story, and which is caused by

the biggest influencing factor on Regan’s mental state: the divorce of her parents; this may

indicate that one of Regan’s struggles with faith lies in her faith in a family and the security it is

supposed to bring. Kelly argues that “behind the scenes of vomiting, levitation, guttural insults,

and rotating heads in The Exorcist lies a much deeper threat: the demon might be manifesting

itself because of Regan’s family situation: a bitter divorce, a deadbeat dad, the death of a brother,

and a career-obsessed mother”(Kelly 1). Regan’s attachment to her mother can be argued as

containing oedipal influences when we examine the fact that all of the victims that Regan

eventually kills within the novel, Burke Dennings, Damien Karras, and Lankester Merrin, are all

single males. Regan shows suspicion that her mother may have some form of relationship with

Dennings early on in the novel:

REGAN. You can bring Mr. Dennings if you like.

CHRIS. Mr. Dennings?

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REGAN. Well, you like him, don’t you?

CHRIS. Oh, well, sure I like him, honey. Don’t you?

REGAN. You’re going to marry him, aren’t you, Mommy.

CHRIS. Oh, my baby, of course not! What on earth are you talking about?(Blatty 42)

With her father absent from her life, Regan would have a very attention-hungry attitude toward

her mother, in an attempt to compensate for the lack of one parent, but although Regan receives

much attention from her mother, a mother’s love can still not provide all that a two-parent

household can accomplish. The need for a true male figure in her life would still hold her faith in

her family structure at bay.

Without a father figure in her life at all, Regan allowed Pazuzu to take control of her

through the demon attempting to falsely fill the emptiness caused by Howard’s absence, although

it can be said that Father Karras also attempts to fill this void through his actions. Struggles

within paternal relationships already creates a commonality between Regan and Karras, and

Karras’ interactions with Regan may have been influenced by the results of his struggles and, in

turn, allowed him to act as the father figure Regan was missing. In dealing with the loss of his

mother, Karras feels like an unworthy son and appears to project his own paternal instincts out to

another, perhaps to atone for the sins that he feels he has committed in the hopes that it may

redeem some of his lost faith through doing good for another. If another person were to take on a

father-like role in Regan’s life, however, it could lead to replacing the father that she really longs

for and potentially bring peace the emotional vulnerabilities that allowed Pazuzu to attach to her.

Therefore, it is natural that Pazuzu feels the need to heavily taunt and eventually kill Karras so

that he cannot restore any faith in Regan’s desire for a father figure and possibly free her from

the grasp of the demon.

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While a missing father figure shook her faith in her family, the divorce of her parents also

faltered Regan’s faith and confidence in another entity: herself. As seen with Father Karras, lack

of faith in oneself can lead to a multitude of depression, guilt, and emotional vulnerability, and

while Karras felt his guilt through being unable to save his mother, Regan similarly experiences

guilt involving her parents’ divorce. In the early sections of the novel, Regan’s parents have

recently gone through their divorce and her father, Howard, has taken an absence to Europe,

leaving her with her mother. Although Howard’s absence later leads to Regan becoming

possessed, there are no physical or verbal signs of her reaction to the divorce at first, but Chris

eventually notices that: “beginning on the day after Regan’s birthday-and following Howard’s

failure to call-she had noticed a sudden and dramatic change in her daughter’s behavior and

disposition”(Blatty 54). Chris also feels a concern when she discovers that Regan has discovered

a new imaginary “friend” through playing with the Ouija board. While this marks Pazuzu’s first

contact with Regan under the name of Captain Howdy, it also marks one of the first times where

Chris shows true concern for her daughter’s mental state following the divorce, and she is

particularly shaken by her daughter’s imaginary friend having a name resembling her father so

much:

Chris tried not to frown as she felt a dim but prickling concern. Regan had loved her

father deeply, yet had never shown the slightest reaction to her parents’ divorce. Maybe

Regan cried in her room; who knew? But Chris was fearful that her daughter was

repressing both anger and grief and that one day the dam would break and her emotions

would erupt in some unknowable and harmful form. Chris pursed her lips. A fantasy

playmate. It didn’t sound healthy. And why the name “Howdy”? For Howard? Her

father? Pretty close.(Blatty 40)

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Chris was well-aware of the potential hidden effects that the divorce could be having on Regan,

but could not find any obvious signs of discomfort or troubled behaviors in her daughter’s

attitude. Yet, she had clearly reserved some worries about how Regan was perceiving the

divorce, or she would not have been worried about her emotions erupting in a negative way.

Internal grief over a divorce is not all that uncommon, as divorce is shown to have

several adverse effects on children and their self-image and self-esteem. Slagjana Angjelkoska

describes the role of the parents in a developing child’s life as “primary. In the family, every

member satisfies or at least expects to satisfy some of his conscious or unconscious emotional

needs,” and that “the general atmosphere in the family is far more important than the individual

behaviors of the parents to the child”(Angjelkoska 60). In the case of Regan, that atmosphere is

missing a key component and her faith and trust in that family atmosphere is shaken by the

absence of Howard and by the frequent conflict between Chris and Howard. Conflict between

divorced parents is absorbed by the children, who will slowly grow to develop negative

characteristics associated with conflict and altercation.

Angjelkoska also describes in her study how the atmosphere in which the child grows and

develops and the relationship between the parents and the child can have a significant influence

on the way that a child perceives themselves and shapes their own self-image, and Regan’s

struggle with having faith in herself is contributed to by her family conflicts. Conclusions from

Angjelkoska’s study revealed that children of divorced parents: “have certain difficulties in the

development of a psychological picture of themselves, use defense mechanisms for defense in

their behavior, have increased the feeling of insecurity and low self-confidence, and keep silent

as a way of dealing with a problem”(Angjelkoska 63). While Regan does not generally appear to

have low self-confidence through her actions, she does remain silent when dealing with the
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aftermath of the divorce, as previously stated, “she had never shown the slightest reaction to her

parents’ divorce”(Blatty 40). In terms of coping mechanisms for the divorce, Regan’s silence on

the matter shows just how much the separation is really affecting her, and arguments that her

parents have in which she is the subject, such as Howard failing to call her on her birthday, only

serve to make Regan the center of conflict and contribute to her lowering self-image.

Self-blame within the context of a divorce is a particularly common emotion experienced by

children of these divorced couples, and they often feel that, since caring for them and different

parenting styles of the separated parents may frequently clash, they are the reason for the conflict

that arises from these incidents. The children feel directly to blame for their parents fighting, and

some even blame themselves for the divorce entirely, as many young children cannot fully grasp

the complexity of an adult relationship, and the many influences that may contribute to a divorce.

When observing self-blame in Regan’s case, there is even a theory that ties, both her loss

of faith in herself, and the implication that she is to blame for her parents’ divorce, to her

demonic possession. Regan’s possession is, for the majority of the novel, treated as an illness,

and she undergoes several medical diagnoses before the conclusion of demonic possession is

eventually reached. When viewing Regan’s possession as an illness, or an impairment which she

has no control over, various perspectives on disability and impairment can be applied to her case,

as are perspectives outlined in Dan Goodley’s Disability Studies: An Interdisciplinary

Introduction. Among the perspectives on disability discussed in Goodley’s book, he discusses an

older perspective on disability viewed as a moral condition or impairment. Through this moral

model of disability, the disability is a condition that is “caused by moral lapse or sins. The

reification of sin or evil, failure or a test of faith. Includes myth that as one sense is impaired by

disability another is heightened, i.e. the blind seer”(Goodley 6). In Regan’s case, it can be argued
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that viewing disability as the result of a moral lapse can be applied to Regan, who in feeling that

she may be at fault for her parents’ divorce and subsequent conflicts, may feel that she would be

deserving of such a horrible disease or occurrence, much like the terrible possession that she

ultimately falls victim to.

Viewing Regan’s possession as a moral condition does not solely leave her poor self-faith

as the primary reason for her possession, however, as the moral condition also states that it may

“bring shame to the person with the disability and their family. The family must address their

immoral nature as evidenced through the presence of a disabled family member”(Goodley 6).

This shifts some focus onto the family of the disabled person as well, implying that they too have

experienced a moral lapse that has caused them to be deserving of a terrible fate for their family

member. In the specific context of Regan’s condition, demonic possession, it is nearly perfectly

fitting that the moral lapse that her mother Chris may commit is rooted in one of her struggles

with faith. Chris openly has no faith in God, and she begins the novel as a prominent atheist,

although she does not attempt to sway Regan in any particular religious direction. Yet, her own

lack of faith in God still lingers. However, a curious change occurs in Chris near the end of the

novel.

Although she does not believe in God, Chris openly approaches father Karras with the

request to have an exorcism performed on Regan, and it is in this moment that the moral

conditional perspective of disability displays the quality of “a test of faith”(Goodley 6). The

torments and horrors caused by the demon Pazuzu were so great, a woman who had never

actively practiced any religion or declared faith in any divine being was now fully submitting her

sick daughter, and by extension herself, to God, a force with which she has no history: “Well, it

happens, Father Karras, that someone very close to me is probably possessed and needs an
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exorcism. Will you do it?’”(Blatty 216) In acting as a test of faith, Regan’s possession was able

to invoke a cry to a higher power into a person who had never sought help from God in any

previous hardships.

This appearance of faith is not just limited to Chris, either. The evocation of faith and

trust in God also takes place within Regan, even as she slowly loses herself to Pazuzu’s

influence. Regan’s spirituality remains a mystery throughout much of the novel, as discussed

earlier, her mother does not attempt to sway her towards any particular idea of religion, despite

her own atheism. Not long after Regan’s apparent illness begins to worsen, Chris makes a

discovery: “she had slipped out an object from under Regan’s pillow and was holding it up to her

mystified gaze. Then her glance flicked to Karl as she snapped at him sternly, ‘Karl, who put this

crucifix here?’”(Blatty 178) As she is unwilling to accept any religious or supernatural reason for

her daughter’s condition at this time, Chris becomes angry at the ridiculous prospect of

discovering this religious symbol under Regan’s pillow. She furiously interrogates all those who

have been in recent contact with Regan, but is unable to discover who placed the cross. The

matter is ultimately never spoken of again, leaving only one implied solution: Regan herself. The

act of placing a crucifix under one’s pillow signifies a desire to be protected from any number of

evils by God, and while many view it as a superstitious practice to protect against creatures

purely of myth such as vampires,(Morris) the intention of the act still remains rooted in a trust

and faith in God. For Regan to have placed this crucifix beneath her own pillow, even amidst her

early stages of demonic possession, she would have to have been under a fear that she knew she

could not conquer on her own, and she chose to seek protection from God.

Regan’s possession proves to be a force that, adversely to the intentions of the demon

Pazuzu, invigorates a new kind of faith in both Regan and her mother, who ultimately grow
 18

closer to each other, and perhaps closer to God, through the experience. The experience also

proves to revitalize faith in even one who seems to reject it the most: Father Karras. Although

Karras meets a bitter end at the hands of Pazuzu, the same revitalization of faith can be found

within his character, albeit in the late pages of the novel. After exhausting every logical

explanation for Regan’s possession, Karras assists father Merrin in performing her exorcism,

even though the very idea of such a ritual conflicts with his logical nature. During a break in the

midst of the ritual, however, Karras and Merrin engage in a conversation in which Merrin openly

assures Karras that they are indeed dealing with a real demon: “I know you doubt this. But this

demon I have met once before. And he is powerful, Damien. Powerful”(Blatty 344). Merrin

acknowledges Karras’ doubts and faltering faith, and Karras responds with a question rooted in

logic when he asks Merrin what the purpose of the possession is, since, as he points out, “the

demon cannot touch the victim’s will,”(344) so there will be no damnation or sin on Regan’s

behalf.

Father Merrin explains that there is no explicitly defined purpose of a demonic

possession, but offers to Karras his own strategy for maintaining his faith amidst the troubles of

the world. He offers his own theory as to why demonic possessions take place:

I think the demon’s target is not the possessed; it is us…the observers…every person in

this house. And I think—I think the point is to make us despair; to reject our own

humanity, Damien: to see ourselves as ultimately bestial, vile and putrescent; without

dignity; ugly; unworthy. And there lies the heart of it, perhaps: in unworthiness. For I

think belief in God is not a matter of reason at all; I think it finally is a matter of love: of

accepting the possibility that God could ever love us.(Blatty 345)
 19

Merrin brings up the potential unworthiness of the human race in such a way that it directly

conflicts with Karras’ beliefs on the silence of God amidst the troubles in the world, and he

declares that there truly is no logical reasoning in having faith in God, for just having knowledge

of the possibility of God’s love for us should inspire faith within people. Merrin even reveals to

Karras that, at one point in his life, his own faith was compromised: “Long ago I despaired of

ever loving my neighbor. Certain people…repelled me. And so how could I love them? I

thought. It tormented me, Damien; it led me to despair of myself and from that, very soon, to

despair of my God. My faith was shattered”(345). In hearing of Merrin’s plight, one that

undoubtedly reminds him of himself, Karras asks how Merrin was able to overcome his own loss

of faith, to which Merrin responds:

Ah, well…at last I realized that God would never ask of me that which I know to be

psychologically impossible; that the love which He asked was in my will and not meant

to be felt as an emotion. No. Not at all. He was asking that I act with love; that I do unto

others; and that I should do it unto those who repelled me, I believe, was a greater act of

love than any other.(345)

Merrin reveals his philosophy that God’s love does indeed exist, but that it is present within us,

and that it exists solely through our own enacted will. Karras’ previous philosophy relied on

expecting himself to automatically feel God’s sense of love for his fellow man, even someone as

lowly as the homeless man at the subway station, but he discovers, through Merrin’s words, that

this love does not come from an automatic feeling, but from the kindness which he, as a person,

must evoke through his own will and choice. God’s love is expressed through human ability to

be kind to one-another. Through a combination of accepting Regan’s possession to be true and

accepting Merrin’s words to be true, Karras is able to reclaim his faith in God during his final
 20

hours, and with full trust in his God, he invites the demon Pazuzu to take control of his body

before plunging himself down the fated staircase below Regan’s window, tumbling to his death.

In his final moments, Karras is able to pass peacefully with his faith in God fully

reignited. A resident of the Jesuit hall, Father Dyer, arrives at the scene just in time to give the

dying Karras his last rites, which are described, in Catholic doctrine, as “celebration of viaticum,

the Commendation of the Dying and the Prayers for the Dead. When someone is close to death

(and has been anointed already), they should receive holy Communion for the last

time”(Mannion). Dyer asks Karras: “Do you want to make your confession now, Damien?...Are

you sorry for all of the sins of your life and for having offended Almighty God?”(Blatty 367)

Receiving his last rites marks Karras’ final step in repairing his relationship with God, and upon

the end of the short ritual, he passes away, with Father Dyer gazing into his eyes, which were

“filled with peace; and with something else: something like joy at the end of heart’s

longing,”(367) the joy of having conquered his loss of faith likely being the last thought to ever

cross his mind.

Seeing the negative effects of losing faith within individual characters of the novel, as

well as the positive effects of finding faith in unlikely places, stresses the importance of having

faith altogether, even during dark and terrible times. The demon Pazuzu, to no particular

surprise, thrives on the lack of faith within his victims. From possessing a vulnerable and

depressed little girl who is experiencing the confusion and trauma of a broken family and is

losing faith in herself and her family, to tormenting and mocking a struggling priest who is

dealing with both the loss of his faith in an almighty God and in himself for being unable to care

for his mother in her time of need, Pazuzu looks for particular vulnerabilities and struggles

within a person to best terrorize them and their loved ones in any number of ways, but his
 21

torments end up becoming the catalyst that actually rejuvenates faith into these individuals,

helping them to overcome their struggles. Regardless of just where the struggle with faith may

lie, William Peter Blatty uses The Exorcist to communicate the psychological and emotional

turmoil that a sheer lack of faith can wreak on people who have been weakened by their life

circumstances, but it also shows that, even at the lowest points of one’s person struggles, faith

can always be redeemed and it will carry us through the darkest points of our lives.

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