Flannery O’Connor’s “Everything That Rises Must Converge” is a short story that centers around the irony created through the twisted and volatile relationship between a young man, Julian, and his mother. The story deals with an intense element of hypocrisy and conceit within this relationship, and uses the tension to explore conflicting social perspectives. The point of view in a story is the vantage point from which a writer tells that story. O’Connor employs a specific point of view throughout the story to better convey its central idea to the reader and the purpose of this paper will be to explore that notion. The central idea in “Everything That Rises Must Converge” is that ideological differences are not enough to overcome personal characteristics …show more content…
The author further uses the “limited” aspect of the story’s point of view to make Julian’s hateful nature abundantly clear: “She was holding herself very erect under the preposterous hat, wearing it like a banner of her imaginary dignity. There was in him an evil urge to break her spirit.” In this passage, the narrator does not try to conceal Julian’s hateful mindset in any way, instead stating it rather plainly. The evil urge within Julian should be enough to show readers the dark side of Julian’s personality, however the narrator includes more of these details throughout the story to reinforce Julian’s abhorrent nature: “At that moment he could with pleasure have slapped her as he would have slapped a particularly obnoxious child in his charge.” These commentaries give readers a great idea of Julian’s wickedness, something that again might not have been so obvious had O’Connor chosen a different point of …show more content…
Without the inner monologues Julian ponders throughout the story, it would be difficult to claim he was ever in a wrong mindset or that he ever truly would wish harm upon his mother. However, since readers do have access to these realities, Julian’s character seems much more interesting to them, whether good or bad. Breaking down point of view in stories can be helpful in determining the central idea, as the two concepts typically support one another. An author such as O’Connor has the ability when writing narrative to use whichever point of view they feel best portrays the story they are telling in the way they would like readers to understand it. By including and excluding certain bits of information, the author can present the story the way they choose, with the option to leave as many or as few subtle or obvious details within the narration as they would like to reveal to
With these two divergent personas that define the grandmother, I believe the ultimate success of this story relies greatly upon specific devices that O’Connor incorporates throughout the story; both irony and foreshadowing ultimately lead to a tale that results in an ironic twist of fate and also play heavily on the character development of the grandmother. The first sense of foreshadowing occurs when the grandmother states “[y]es and what would you do if this fellow, The Misfit, Caught you” (1042). A sense of gloom and an unavoidable meeting with the miscreant The Misfit seem all but inevitable. I am certain that O’Connor had true intent behind th...
...on about his life is blamed on his mother. His hatered for her "gives" him a reason to be a crtical, self-loathing person. Having the ability to tell right from wrong does not assist him in anyway. He is always looking for approval and satisfaction from the one person he accused of being in a "fantasy world". The fantasy world she has lived in for so long is now and were he will spend the rest of his life. Julian is left to fend for himself in a cold world where he is no more prepared to handle than he is a job. Finally we are left to guess whether or not Julian can make it without the one person who annoyed him so much, but stood by his side all of his life.
...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.
Point of view is one of the single greatest assets an author can use. It helps to move the plot along and show what is happening from a character’s perspective. An author can make the plot more complex by introducing several characters that the reader has to view events through. The events can then be seen through different eyes and mindsets forcing the reader to view the character in a different light. From one perspective a character can seem cruel, yet, from another, the same character can seem like a hero. These vastly contrasting views can be influenced based on the point of view, a character’s background, and the emotions towards them. The novel Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich showcases some examples of events seen from different points
The central theme of Flannery O’Connor’s three short stories is irony. Her stories are parables, that is, short stories with a lesson to be learned.
"Everything That Rises Must Converge," in a sense sums up O'Connor's overall philosophy or theology: that is, that everything which rises above the petty concerns of earth, above materialism, must converge somewhere in an ideal realm, that is, Heaven. The story concerns Julian and his mother and a series of misunderstandings between them. We find that Julian's mother is overweight, rude to other people, particularly to Black people, and very judgmental. Julian in turn spends a lot of his time judging his mother. The story focuses on a bus trip that Julian and his mother are taking to the Y's reducing class, and what happens in the course of that trip.
Plot Structure – I felt that most of the exposition took place in the beginning of the first page. For the rest of the story there was mostly rising action. Then, I felt that the climax came when Julian sees his mother crumple to the ground. The falling action and resolution are packaged together in the last couple paragraphs.
Another device not frequently used before O’Connor is the transition between third-person to first-person point-of-view, the first-person being through the grandmother. In the beginning of the story, she describes how the each of the characters feel towards taking a trip to Florida, as well as hint at the relationships they hold for one another. Then the narrator goes on to describe the grandmother’s personal thoughts and feelings throughout the trip, as well as how she thinks towards the end of the story. We first see the first-person point-of-view when the narrator tells how the grandmother did not want to leave the cat at home alone because he would miss her too much and she feared he would accidentally asphyxiate himself with the burners on the stove. The reason this particular part of the story is considered first-person narration is because it goes directly into the mind of the grandmother, telling why she brought the cat along with her. We also see this first-person narration when Baily’s wife is consistently referred to as the children’s mother, rather than by her name or as Baily’s wife.
In the story “Two Kinds”, the author, Amy Tan, intends to make reader think of the meaning behind the story. She doesn’t speak out as an analyzer to illustrate what is the real problem between her and her mother. Instead, she uses her own point of view as a narrator to state what she has experienced and what she feels in her mind all along the story. She has not judged what is right or wrong based on her opinion. Instead of giving instruction of how to solve a family issue, the author chooses to write a narrative diary containing her true feeling toward events during her childhood, which offers reader not only a clear account, but insight on how the narrator feels frustrated due to failing her mother’s expectations which leads to a large conflict between the narrator and her mother.
Point of view is an essential element to a reader's comprehension of a story. The point of view shows how the narrator thinks, speaks, and feels about any particular situation. In Toni Cade Bambara's "The Lesson," the events are told through the eyes of a young, mischievous girl named Sylvia who lives in a lower class neighborhood. The reader gets a limited point of view of view because the events are told strictly by Sylvia. This fact can influence the reader to see things just as she does. The strong language gives an unfamiliar reader an illustration of how people in the city speak. Bambara does this to show the reader that kids from lower class neighborhoods are affected by their environment due to lack of education and discipline, that how different one part of society is from another, and that kids learn from experience. We also get an insight of Sylvia’s feisty, rebellious nature and her lack of respect towards people with an education.
...anger that The Misfit reveals throughout the story draws sympathy from the grandmother and even from the reader. He believes that if he had actually witnessed Jesus firsthand raising the dead he would be a complete believer and a better person: “I wisht I had of been there. It ain’t right I wasn’t there because if I had of been there I would of known and I wouldn’t be like I am now” (267). The Misfit’s strong and consistent beliefs are what seem to guide his actions and when the grandmother recognizes his strength she finally recognizes her weaknesses and undergoes a sudden change of heart, reaching out to the man who killed those she loved and is about to kill her. That final act of kindness by the grandmother may have struck home with The Misfit who, after declaring that there is no pleasure but meanness, decides “It’s no real pleasure in life” (267).
Point of view is defined as the position of the narrator in relation to the story, as indicated by the narrator's outlook from which the events are depicted and by the attitude toward the characters. The point of view in the story The Yellow Wallpaper is first person with a central narrator. The narrator in the story is a lonely woman in a decent into madness; it makes for a wild ride as the reader follows the narrator into that madness. In the complete opposite of the spectrum the narrator in The Lottery is written in third person objective. The narrator does not go into the thoughts and feelings of the characters. The use of “I” in the story causes the reader to follow along into the lottery drawing and conclusion of the story.
Stories have been used to share a story since a long time ago many people have shared moments that otherwise will be lost in time by telling how things happened for them; but how many of these stories have been modified from their deepest roots because of the point of view of the storyteller? In Flannery O´Connor´s “Revelation”, the story that is told is affected by the point of view of the leading character that sees the world based on its morals and values. The way the character shapes the story can be described in how the character shows an external behavior, the character´s real behavior and the bias position of the story that provides.
7. Point of view is the way the author chooses to emphasize certain details because it allows you to "see" and "hear" what's going on. Authors can get their readers attention on exactly the detail, opinion, or emotion the author wants to emphasize by manipulating the point of view of the story. The writer’s purpose determines the techniques he or she uses. The writer’s reason for writing a particular article or book may be manipulative, as in propaganda or advertising, or may be more straightforward, as in informative writing. In either case, understanding the writer’s purpose will help you interpret the context of the writing.
Early it seems as though after attending college, Julian may have gained a new, free spirited way of thinking. After reading farther on throughout the short story it’ evident that Ms. O’Connor in a way uses mockery to enhance the extensive relationship between Julian and his mother. It becomes increasingly evident that Julian’s condensation of his mother comes not from her racist view, but from his own personal, “evil urge to break her spirit (pg. 498).” Both main protagonists are subject to Flannery O’Connor’s meaningful mockery. O’Connor mocks Julian by making him a character a well-educated person that is not using his education (Milne, Ira