Everything That Rises Must Converge

In Flannery O’Connor’s short story, “Everything That Rises Must Converge”, O’Connor places the more broad societal conflict of race relations within the context of the volatile relationship Julian has with his mother to connect the two issues that transformed the South in the 1960s.

In several ways, Julian’s mother is a selfish woman whom, mentally, still lives in the South of her ancestors, with strict social codes of conduct that determined the behavior of both whites and blacks. Even though these norms no longer apply, she still adheres to the old customs to resist the startling changes that the new desegregation and antidiscrimination laws have brought. Meanwhile, Julian rejects the older social order and supports the liberal ideas of

In other words they aren’t all that different from one another, putting people down solely for their own benefit. Both parties are so focused on achieving what they consider to be “Godhigh” that they fail to see the reality of things and see people as human beings rather than categorizing them. Both Julian and his mother rely heavily on appearances to separate and elevate themselves from the rest of society. Julian’s mother even uses Julian as a tool to elevate herself from the rest of society, seeking out opportunities to gloat about her son. Everything she does for her son isn’t really out of love for him, it’s to add to her idealistic “Godhigh” appearance whether it’s braces or paying for his education. This is something poor white Southerners’ used to do to African American’s to make them feel like they were inferior. Julian’s mother, for example, hopes that her public demeanor and clothing will hide the fact that she no longer has any of her family’s former wealth. In turn, she judges others on their appearance, including blacks, whom she automatically considers inferior. She looks down on the African American man on the bus who wears a suit, even though he is better dressed than Julian, and still places herself above the large black woman on board, even though she realizes that they wear the same hideous hat. Ironically, Julian relies on appearances to quickly judge others around him too, even though he criticizes his mother for this same shortcoming. He despises his own neighborhood with its rundown houses and evident poverty and resents the fact that his family no longer has any of its former wealth. Julian uses his education to distinguish himself from those around him, repeatedly claiming that true culture comes from the mind in a weak attempt to justify his apparent failure as a writer. Julian’s and his