Flannery O 'Connor's Everything That Rises Must Converge'

Although modern America is considered to be the land of the free, it obtains a history of racism and prejudice. In Flannery O’Conner’s, “Everything That Rises Must Converge,” O’Connor manages to write a short story based off of America’s past as well as the mindsets of America’s citizens. O’Connor writes about an unprogressive mother and son. The mother is a poor, white woman whose racist mindset can be described as archaic and outdated. Similarly, her son Julian is equally guilty of obtaining ideals that do not uphold the belief of true equality for all. In O’Connor’s, “Everything That Rises Must Converge,” she uses setting, symbolism, and character development to tell the story of two people who obtain an outdated mindset.

O’Connor uses two poor, lower class American characters to develop her story about the racist mindsets of Americans. Julian is a college educated yet unsuccessful white man. He believes he is better than not only his mother but a majority of society. Julian’s mother is a racist yet naïve white woman who is oblivious to the wrongness of her racist mindset. O’Connor uses Julian and his mother to portray to the reader what oblivious racism looks like. When Julian’s mother attempts to

She emphasizes racism in the United States by using setting. Though the Civil Rights Movement helped black people progress in America, a great amount of prejudice still existed. The narrator states, “[Julian’s mother] would not ride the buses by herself at night since they had been integrated” which refers to the desegregation of America (659). Due to many Americans not approving of including black people into their community, racism and prejudice remained at an all-time high. O’Connor’s choice to place “Everything That Rises Must Converge” during a time when racial tensions were high further highlights the prejudice that that occurs in the