Flannery O'Connor's Everything That Rises Must Converge
Everything That Rises Must Converge
Sometimes parents could teach their kids certain principles, and they don?t realize that everyone has different beliefs and values. Julian and his mother had two different views on life and the world around them. Julian was raised to believe that Whites were better than Blacks. His mother believed that they were better off being slaves and keeping their old position in society. She also believed that she held a high position in society. She thought that she was higher class than everyone else. As he grew up, he got his own opinion about these issues. This caused them to have many different arguments about this issue.
In the beginning of the story, Julian and his mother started off arguing. Julian?s mother seemed to pick a fight by arguing about the purchase of her hat. She commented to Julian that she should not have bought the hat, and he tells her she should have bought it. She pushes his buttons and insists on arguing with him. She proceeded to argue and say; ?Maybe I shouldn?t have paid that for it. No, I shouldn?t have. I?ll take it off and return it tomorrow. I shouldn?t have bought it? (O?Connor 179). Julian then proceeds to argue back and insist that she should have bought it. He tells her, ?Yes, you should have bought it. Put it on, and let?s go? (O?Connoe179). His mother continues to look at herself in the hat as if she were debating as to whether or not she should keep it, and Julian tells her, ?It?s all right, It?s all right. Let?s go? (O?Connor 180). No matter what he said to her, she
Julian finally gets her to leave the house and start walking to the bus stop. As they are walking, she co...
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... one would agree with the other just to keep peace. Julian was just as stubborn as his mother. Although he tried to change the subjects many times, he would do and say things that would upset his mother. He sat next to the Negro on the bus, to spite his mother for being a bigot. He knew that he could get back at her for being so stubborn, just by sitting next to the Negro.
The way that Julian?s mother kept on picking fights played a big role in the way that Julian acted towards his mother. Each time he tried to end an argument, she would find something else to argue about. She tried to instill her high standards and her feelings about blacks on him, but he had his own standards and feelings. This caused him to act the way he did with her.
Works Cited:
O'Connor, Flannery. Everything That Rises Must Converge. New York: The Noonday Press, 1956.
Both were interested in the life Melton McLaurin was living. However, Jerry took a special interest in the social life; while, Miss Carter was more interested in his academic career. Their interest, caused a strong and deep bond with the two. They taught him an abundance of life 's lessons. Such as , being an honorable man and to respect others. Many of which , were instilled by his grandfather. But, the realization that segregation was an issue that some couldn 't get over was when Melton returned home from college and saw Jerry and was referred to as a “ mister.” McLaurin had respected them much more then any other black person in Wade, and to hear this respect he was given he was left in a
Julian's discription of his relationship with his mother, in his mind, was he viewed himself as the savior that must teach her a lesson about her outdated veiwpoints. He feels as though he needs to treat her like a "little girl" because of her ignorance of the changing times. It seems that the new generation always seems to know more about "everything" than the one before. Meaning, the old generations are not nessasarily ignorant to the changes, but they might not know any better becuse of the way they were brought up. "They (blacks) don't give a damn for your graciousness", Julian explains to his mother. The condescension of "enlightened" whites towards blacks and the resentment of blacks towards well-meaning whites will never change because "knowing who you are is good for one generation only. You haven't the foggiest idea where you stand now ...
During the bus trip, Julian's mother openly sympathises with some other white women who don't like "Negroes" on the bus. When a Black man gets on the bus, Julian attempts to be friendly with him and in so doing sees himself as morally superior to his mother. We see here that Julian is being very judgmental. For instance, we find Julian entertaining these thoughts after the man has got off the bus:
Flannery O’Connor believed in the power of religion to give new purpose to life. She saw the fall of the old world, felt the force and presence of God, and her allegorical fictions often portray characters who discover themselves transforming to the Catholic mind. Though her literature does not preach, she uses subtle, thematic undertones and it is apparent that as her characters struggle through violence and pain, divine grace is thrown at them. In her story “Revelation,” the protagonist, Mrs. Turpin, acts sanctimoniously, but ironically the virtue that gives her eminence is what brings about her downfall. Mrs. Turpin’s veneer of so called good behavior fails to fill the void that would bring her to heaven. Grace hits her with force and their illusions, causing a traumatic collapse exposing the emptiness of her philosophy. As Flannery O’Connor said, “In Good Fiction, certain of the details will tend to accumulate meaning from the action of the story itself, and when this happens they become symbolic in the way they work.” (487). The significance is not in the plot or the actual events, but rather the meaning is between the lines.
Julian, one of the main characters of the story, struggles with his identity tremendously. He viewed himself as an upright scholar that graduated from college and was not racist in any way. “True culture is in the mind, the mind, the mind…” (O’Connor, 1965). Julian believed that if he could make nice with and/or become friends with African-American people that he was not racist. On the contrary, he did not have any friends of the African-American descent nor could he engage in a meaningful conversation with an African-American person. O’Connor sets a p...
One of the first relationships that McLaurin describes is the relationship between him and his friend Bobo. McLaurin struggled to deal with leaving his boyhood behind and coming into manhood in dealing with the African Americans in the town. When he was young he paid no attention to race of the children in the neighborhood. Children are often very unaware of the social issues going on around them because children are innocent and then when they start growing up they begin to become aware of what is happening. McLaurin was playing a game of basketball with the black and white children in the neighborhood and needed to air up the ball at his grandfather’s store. McLaurin and a couple of his black peers, including his friend Bobo, went to the store and McLaurin became frustrated with Bobo after he failed to air up the ball with enough air after he already put the needle in his mouth to get it into the ball. McLaurin then placed the same needle into his mouth and immediately was overcome with emotion. This ev...
Julian is from a rich slave owning family who used to live in a rich mansion, even though now she lives in a poor neighborhood and struggles with money ;She makes this apparent when she mentions selling her new purple hat for she could pay their gas bill. She was extremely prideful of her heritage and who her family once was and the fact they owned slaves; she made sure she reminded Julian that his great-grandfather had “a plantation and two hundred slaves” (436) . This comes into play and reveals some of the reasons that his mother is so racist and struggles to show any decency to the African-American people near her, making remarks such as “I see we have the bus to ourselves” (439) in reference to there only being white people on the bus. She also takes pride that her son graduated college and she mentions it every chance that she gets to other people.
Malcom X’s outlook on race goes through many stages of change throughout his life. As a child, Malcom X was immediately categorized as black and poor, therefore being a lower class citizen and creating a lack of exposure and diversity of ideologies. As he grows up and meets new people he is introduced to different lifestyles and for once has an opportunity to choose what kind of life he is going to lead. This creates a young man who does not his own identity and is soul searching. Ideas are introduced to him slowly. Everybody he meets has something new and exciting to offer to him.
“Everything that Rises Must Converge” also contains two supposedly superior characters, Julian and his mother. Julian’s mother believes that she is superior because her grandfather was a former governor, a prosperous landowner with two-hundred slaves. She also believes that being white makes her superior to people of other races. She believes that those people should rise, but “on their own side of the fence” (pg. 214). Later in the story she offends a “Negro” woman by her patronizing treatment of the woman’s child. This woman is so upset that she physically attacks Julian’s mother (pg. 221). Julian also sees himself as superior. He feels superior to his mother because he does not see himself as racist. In reality he is as much a racist as his mother, but he shows his racism in a different way, seeking out those who he terms “some of the better types” to befriend (pg.
...n effort to get along. Their friendship was so secure and they were so pleased that they had learnt to overcome the racial issues and spent the time to get to know each other. They both still acted as if they were better than each other and they weren?t going to attempt to change this, even when they were playing football together. If something went wrong they would blame each other, or disagree, and always end up fighting and usually about different things, like who was better and right. By observing the friendship emerging between Gerry and Julius other people began to realize that having friends of a different race was not wrong. This also made Gerry and Julius?s friendship grow even stronger as they made a huge impact on the community. They started to understand each other and created a bond that was so strong that their appearance didn?t seem to matter anymore.
...ring the same hat that Julian’s mother has on. They both wear this “A purple velvet flap came down on one side of it and stood up on the other; the rest of it was green and looked like a cushion with the stuffing out.” (PG 1) Having that they both wore the same hat made Julian’s mother upset because she felt that she had just spent some much money on that hat and too see someone else wearing it furthermore seeing a African lady wear that hat tipped Julian’s mother over the edge. The mother became very furious when Julian’s mother tried to give a hand out to her little boy.
...to take it anymore. Julian's mother didn't realize this, she thought she was being "gracious." The stroke Julian's mother receives at the end is a direct result of her failure to adapt to her current setting.
Southern gothic is a type of literature that focuses on the harsh conflicts of violence and racism, which is observed in the perspective of black and white individuals. Some of the most familiar southern authors are William Faulkner, Flannery O’Connor, and Cormac McCarthy. One author in particular, Flannery O’Connor, is a remarkable author, who directly reflects upon southern grotesque within her two short stories, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and “Revelation.” These two short stories are very similar to each other, which is why I believe that O’Connor often writes with violent characters to expose real violence in the world while tying them in with a particular spiritual insight.
Daisy lacks self confidence which made it harder to raise her fifteen year-old son Donny. There were many instances where Daisy pondered on what she can do better to help Donny in school, but as she put forth an effort, she always resisted. “She remembered when Amanda was born. Donny had acted lost and bewildered. Daisy had been alert to that of course, but still, a new baby keeps you busy of course….”(570) When Daisy saw this happening, she never stopped to reassure Donny that even though he had a sister, it was not going to change their relationship. Daisy should have reassured her son by correcting the problem as soon as it surfaced, then Donny should have understood. When Donny started to have problems in school, Daisy gave up without trying, and let a tutor dictate her son’s activities especially when the teacher questions Daisy about Donny’s actions, Daisy replied, “Oh I’m sorry, Miss Evans, but Donny’s tutor handles these things now…” (572) In school Donny’s behavior changed soo drastically that he started to stay out late and Daisy just sat back and let this happen. “The tutor had sat down so many rules![She] were not allowed any questions at all about school, nor were to speak with his teachers…,Only one teacher disobeyed…”(572) Because Daisy didn’t believe in herself or her word, she let others control and therefore his behavior worsened.
This story takes place in the south during the civil rights movement when people were trying to eliminate poverty and racism from the society that they lived in. There are four important characters in this story, and the two main ones are Julian and his mother. Julian is a recent college graduate who lives with his mother but knows “some day [he’ll] start making money” (Mays 448). Julian sees the world as ever changing during the civil rights movement and does not like or condone racism. Although this is true he subconsciously is small minded and petty just like his mother. His mother often makes racist remarks and will not find herself sitting next to a black African American adult. She often would bring up the topic of race to Julian “every few days like a train on an open track” (Mays 449). She also makes her son ride the bus with her to the YMCA because of the new changes due to the civil rights movement and in some ways this makes Julian mad. As they begin to board the bus Julian and his mother argue but quickly board. Shortly later a black woman and her son named Carver board. Carver sits next to Julian’s mother, she does not mind, and Carver’s mother sits next to Julian. Carver’s mother is an impatient woman who ironically wears the same hat as Julian’s mother. The hat in many ways is a symbol of the ever changing south during the civil rights movement. It symbolizes the social equality between