Literary Elements In Flannery O Connor's Short Stories

Different Literature Elements in a Short Story
Flannery O’Connor is a famous American author. She wrote thirty-two short stories and two novels. She is very famous for her short stories. One of her famous short stories is “Everything That Rises Must Converge.” The short story is a relationship between son and mother, which also holds a mother’s and son’s perspective of colored people. To develop the short story, O’Connor uses different kinds of literary elements, such as, the main character, main conflict, complication, third person omniscient point of view, and symbolism to explore the complicated relationship between son and mother.
In this short story, there two types of main characters which is the protagonist and antagonist and have their

own quality. Julian is the Protagonist. His best quality is that his mother’s belief does not influence Julian’s thought process, as families’ cultures and thinking usually affect many people’s thought process. For instance, Polygamy is legal where I grew up, so I used to think it was acceptable everywhere. Then I moved to the United States of America, where same-sex marriage is legal, but polygamy is not. This made me question my original view and understand how people usually accept the views they receive growing up. Nevertheless, Julian is different. Although he grows up in a family who is proud to enslaving colored people, he is extremely against slavery, and he tries to change his mother thinking about black people. On the other hand, Julian’s mother is the antagonist since the short story is all about her racist perspective of colored people. Her quality is that she really loves her son as a mother. We can say that she sacrifices everything that she has for him.
Not only have the protagonist, the antagonist and their qualities, but it also has a main conflict in this short story. The main conflict starts when Julian’s mother gives a bright new penny to a little Negro boy, and the little boy’s mother hears what Julian’s mother said and slaps her for trying to give the penny. Then, Julian tries to explain to his mother why the son’s mother slapped her. However, Julian’s mother wouldn’t listen to him, and Julian also keeps speaking some words which break and lead her to death.
Besides the main conflict, the author writes the story from the third person omniscient point-of-view which provides an opportunity for the author to include her opinion in the story.

For instance, the author states, “in spite of going to only a third-rate college, he had his own initiative, come out with a first-rate education.” This is the author’s opinion, and I see it differently. Owing to the fact that, his mother works very hard and pays the tuitions for him to college, he could get a first-rate education. Raising him alone also makes her suffer financially. So, it is not only about his initiative, but it is also about his mother completing her responsibility as a mother although he has some inputs. O’Connor also writes, “…he had cut himself emotionally free of her… He was not dominated by his mother.” This also the author thought, and I agree that he had cut himself. However, he should have some love and care for his

mother.
O’Connor also uses symbolism to describe equality between white and colored people and Julian’s prejudice attitude. Julian’s mother’s hat and the giant Negro woman’s hat are the same, so the identical hats describe exactly black and white are equal. Julian also mentions this at the end of the story. One Critic states, “The desire of giving the penny suggests a nexus of meanings relating to the social, racial and religious themes…” (Ower, P. 7). For instance, the penny serves as a symbol for Julian’s mother racist attitude about black people by describing Julian’s mother is better than the negro son’s mother economically. The son’s mother also says,” He does not take anybody’s penny.” This sentence confirms my conclusion.
Both main characters are not great people that make the story very complicated.

Julian’s mother truly loves her son. Because of her love, she raises her son alone by working without rest. Angela O’Donnell a famous writer, poet, and professor at Fordham University states, “For all her flaws, she is a good mother—a fact he strangely resents.” Yes, he is, and she sacrifices her life for him. For example, instead of going to college, she works very hard and sends him to college. In short, we can say she lives her life for him. However, she is very racist and prejudices colored people. The other part which makes the story very complicated is the character of Julian toward his mother. He does not give any credit for things his mother sacrificed. No matter what his mother believes, she is the best mother for him, so he should not take it for granted. Moreover, he should have understood his mother’s perspective of colored people. One critic writes, “Julian, however, seems unaware of the extent to which his mother’s repetitive accounts have ingrained in him a strong connection to that historical past.” As I mentioned in the above, many people thought process is affected by their families thought, so Julian should have noticed that how much his mother’s perspective is influenced by her

background.
Generally, O’Connor does a good job writing by using different kinds of literature, and the protagonist and antagonist is not a great person. She also describes their character by creating a vivid image in readers’ mind and making the story alive.