O'Connor

Subject to analysis today is Flannery O’Connor’s “Everything that Rises Must Converge”. There were many elements of this story worthy of inspection, however, the main focus of my discussion will focus primarily on the dichotomy between Julian and his mother, as well as the way it manifests in the form of race. I believe that this relationship is representative of the dichotomy of “the old” and “the new”. In the story, Julian is perpetually annoyed with his mother. Even though she provides him with a place to stay because he does not make enough money to support himself right out of college, he is still very hostile towards her. He cannot tolerate her racism, nor can he tolerate her obsession with appearance, both of which represent her innate disposition to an old view of the world. For example, his mother believes that appearance is a representation of who a person really is; their appearance is their identity. This is evident when Julian removes his tie and his mother asks “. “Why must you look like that when you take me to town? Why must you deliberately embarrass me?” (O’Connor 3). As such, she continues to dress as though she were as wealthy as she once was and prides herself on the neighborhood in which she lives, despite having lost her wealth and the deterioration of the neighborhood. This representative of her unwillingness to adopt the new ways of the world. In contrast, Julian believes that a person’s identity lies within their mind.

                The big theme, however, that both separates and unites Julian and his mother, as well as highlights their distinct different points of view on the world (old and new) is that of racism. Julian’s mother is flat out racist. She opposes the newly desegregated society and believes herself to be above African Americans. Her sense of entitlement is presented in many lines throughout the story such as “I've always had a great respect for my colored friends” (O’Connor 2). Julian, on the other hand, believes himself to be much more liberal and accepting of the newly desegregated world, due perhaps in part to his college education. However, though he does believe himself to be accepting and liberal towards desegregation, let it be noted that he might be considered just as racist as his mother. He never really shows empathy for African Americans, nor does he ever really see them as people as often as he sees them as tools with which he can anger his mother. He seeks to engage African American people as though they were trophies with which he can declare his new, liberal points of view. This is, perhaps, representative of the transitional period between the old and new ideas on topics such as desegregation.  

                The thing that tied everything together for me was the hat. Julian’s mother bought a ridiculous hat that she wore on the bus on the way to the Y. Similarly, the large black woman that got on the bus with Julian and his mother was wearing the same hat. To me, shit shattered the illusion of the old world that Julian’s mother was living in. There she was, riding the same form of public transportation to the same place, wearing the same detestable hat that she liked so much as the person that she considered herself so far above. Her sense of entitlement manifested in the form of the penny she tried to give to the black woman’s child. Though she may have believed herself to be doing the child a kindness, the penny was, in fact, condescending in nature, as Julian suggested. The rejection of the penny declared the woman an independent, free member of society who no longer needed to look to white members of society for support, thus symbolizing the new age whilst simultaneously shattering the old one that Julian’s mother lived in.