Wilaynes Gonzalez

ENGL11000/ Spring 2017

Mr.Bubrow/ Section C4

Lesson Taught Through Love or Hatred?: A Review on

Everything that Rises Must Converge

Could it be considered a lesson learned the hard way? Flannery O Conners short

story, Everything that Rises Must Converge, is about Julian, a college graduate during

integration (1965) in the South, who hoped to teach his racist mother a lesson about her

racism. This resulted in her getting a stroke after a black mother struck her with a purse

for trying to condescendingly offer her child a penny. Although the author create Julians

character to come off to be very pessimistic and the story to have a seemingly unclear

message, after analyzing, you comprehend Julians true intentions and can interpret

themes on the relationship between social disagreements and generational conflict.

Throughout most of the story, Juilan is portrayed in a negative way that forces

you to wonder whether if he is a good or bad person. There are several instances that

support the idea that he finds pleasure in displeasing and mistreating his mother. One of

the earliest examples was when his mother was pondering on leaving the house with the

green and purple hat. He tells her to put it on regardless of the fact that he thought, it

was a hideous hat it was less comical than jaunty and pathetic. Everything that gave

her pleasure was small and depressed him, (O Connor 273). Him finding himself

displeased with the things that gave her pleasure implies he enjoys her discomforts.

Another example is when Julian and his mother were waiting for the bus and he

deliberately discards his tie and tucks it away into his pocket to upset her. He did not like

how his mother wore the purple and green hat like a banner of her imaginary dignity,
because she did it very pretentiously in thought of her rich, slave-owning ancestors.

Understanding that she wore it in this manner gave him, an evil urge to break her spirit.

The fact that he did this out of a purposeful negative urge could be considered as a form

of disrespect toward his mother. Removing his tie resulted in the reaction that he

anticipated, which was her being bothered by the way it made him look like a thug (O

Connor 277).

Although some believe Julians character is a bitter, undesirable character, it is

arguable that he in fact generally has good morals. Julian has always despised his mother

racist views. Most times, the reason he does certain things are his way to teach her a

lesson. For instance, when he discarded his tie the time they were waiting for the bus, his

mother got upset. He told her, If youll never learn where you are you can at least

learn where I am. (O Connor 278) Since their ancestors were rich slave owners, she

walked with a high sense of superiority over everyone, specifically the Negros even

though they were all integrated. He loathed this because he wanted her to understand they

are no better or higher than anyone else, so she should stop acting like she is and making

him pretend as well. Another example of when he tried to teach his mother a lesson is

when they are on the bus and a Negro boards dressed decently with a suitcase. Julians

mother discreetly tell him, Now you see why I wont ride these buses by myself, (O

Connor 281) after the man sits to read his newspaper. To displease his mother, he gets up

and sits down next to the man and makes a failed attempt to speak to him. He thought

about striking up a conversation about politics, art, or any deep intellectual subject with

the man, but ended up seeming awkward and annoying. Julian wanted to demonstrate to

his mother the lack of differences between him and the Negro and to also show how
Negros could be intelligent and just as harmless as whites. Even though Julian upsets his

mother in his process, the outcome he desires is to correct his mothers racist view of the

world. The authors Winn and Harbour agree with the idea that he cared for his mother in

their review when they claim, Ironically, then, Julian learns that the lesson has proven

costly, for as he bends over her crumpled body his dependence surfaces in the childlike

manner in which he addresses her: Darling, sweetheart; Mamma. Mamma, (Winn,

Harbour 194) The moment described by Winn and Harbour in their review, Everything

That Rises Must Converge: OConnors Seven-Story Cycle, is the first time Julian

openly displays emotions of love to his mother when she was dying from a stroke. Julian

hated racism much more than he hated his mother. He was very depended on her since he

lived with her, telling him self hed eventually make some money. He knew his mother

loved him dearly and made sacrifices for him. At the end of the day, Julian mightve

acted harsh with his mother, but he only intended to adjust his mothers racism.

In the short story, the message is not immediately obvious. Because the rising

action takes up most of the story, the climax and resolution are short. When the story ends

with mother suddenly dying from a stroke, it leaves you asking, Is this really it? What

happens to the mother? What happens to Julian? Then you wonder if the mother ever

learned her lesson and if Julian regrets being mean to his mother, but all these questions

are left open ended. The ending leaves you a bit in the dark with an incomplete sense.

It requires a bit of deeper analysis to fathom important central ideas in the story.

The theme is not found at the end of the story, but hidden behind the characters and small

details. If you go back and observe the names of the characters, youll notice that the

author choose to only include the main characters name and the black mothers 4 year
old childs name, Julian and Carver. There are a couple things that they have in common.

It is that they are both part of the newer generation and they both are not racist. Julian

demonstrates this by often trying to connect with Negros, like the time he spoke to the

man on the bus. Carver also connects with the opposite race by innocently playing peek-

a-boo with Julians mother, regardless of his mothers reprimands. The characters that we

dont know the names of, like Julians mother, Carvers mother, and the characters on the

bus, all represent the older generation thats had to adjust to integration. What they all had

in common is that they were all racist and didnt want to interact or connect. They were

stuck with the adamant mindset that believed black and white people should remain

segregated. Most of them may have agreed with Julians mothers thought, It's

ridiculous. It's simply not realistic. They should rise, yes, but on their own side of the

fence. (OConnor 276) All these discreet details connect to a theme about social

disagreements and generational conflict. According to Williamson and Jenn, she

[Julians mother] is referred to only in the context of her relationship to her son. Not only

does this designation underscore the deep connection of her identity with the

intergenerational ties of family and history, but it also has the effect of eliding her

individual identity completely. (Williamson, Jenn 750) The two authors from The

University of North Carolina agree that the characters identity connect with their

generation. The disagreements with people similar to Julian and his mother in society

during the time directly correlate with the differences in generations.

In all, the short story, What Rises Must Converge, has its positives and

negatives. Julian stood out as dynamic character with an unpleasant attitude towards

things and good morals. Living in a society with two different views on integration made
it easy for his mothers racist ideas to rub Julian wrong, which partly explains his actions.

The theme in the story is a theme that could be applied to life today, where social clashes

are caused by generational conflicts. If you look at opinions in society about gay rights,

you may notice that the older generations might believe homosexuality is wrong, versus

the younger generations being more accepting about it. In this way, the theme found in

the short story even relates to social issues in the present.

Works Cited

Williamnson, Jenn Traumatic Recurrences in White Southern Literature: O'Connor's

Everything that Rises must Converge and Welty's Clytie. Women Studies

38.7 (2009): 747-764. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 Mar. 2017

Winn, Harbour Everything That Rises Must Converge: OConnors Seven-Story

Cycle. Renascence 42.4 (1990): 197-212. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6

Mar. 2017