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Flannery O Connor's Use Of Setting Analysis

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The story takes place at the height of the Civil Rights Movement in America, when desegregation is finally achieved. Flannery O’Connor’s use of setting augments the mood and deepens the context of the story. However, O’Connor’s method is subtle, often relying on connotation and implication to drive her point across. The story achieves its depressing mood mostly through the use of light and darkness in the setting. The somber lighting surrounding the story becomes increasingly darker as the story progresses. By doing so, it gives a sense of foreboding that once the light is extinguished, something dreadful will manifest. This may be a reference to the souring relationship between Julian and his mother. Julian for instance is “cut emotionally free” from his mother. The “dying violet” …show more content…

According to Lia Parisyan of Literature Analysis, “a turning point of the Civil Rights struggle came when a woman named Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of a bus.” The use of a bus as a setting alludes to one of the key points of the historical context. According to Enotes.com , the bus “[allows] …passengers to reveal their various social prejudices.” Even Julian, who “[is] free of prejudice” is not immune: “he [has tried] to strike up an acquaintance on the bus with some of the better types.” By doing so, the author shows that there was still underlying tension in society despite the desegregation. The use of the house, the bus, and the development of light to dark convey the underlying tension among the characters as well as in their treatment of desegregation. Similar to the passengers in the bus, the reader is transported to the heart of the context of the story: the integration of black people into the community. Flannery O’Connor’s “Everything That Rises Must Converge” shows a masterful manipulation of the setting as evidenced by its ability to enrich the mood and context of the

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