Everything That
Rises Must Converge
By
Flannery O’Connor
Context
Mary Flannery O’Connor was born on March 25, 1925, in Savannah , Georgia Atlanta for her father’s work when O’Connor was a teenager
but had to return to their home in Milledgeville ,
Georgia University of Iowa University of
Iowa
O’Connor accepted an invitation to work on Wise Blood at Yaddo, a respected
artist’s colony in Saratoga Springs ,
New York Georgia New
York and decided to live with her mother on their Georgian dairy
farm, Andalusia . O’Connor lived there quietly
for several years until she completed and published Wise Blood in 1952. Critics
condemned the novel as an affront to Christianity for its satire on American
religious life but recognized O’Connor’s phenomenal talent as a writer.
O’Connor published her first collection of short stories, A Good Man Is
Hard to Find, in 1955 and then followed up with a second novel in 1960, The
Violent Bear It Away. Although critics loved her short fiction, her second
novel suffered as Wise Blood had. Nevertheless, O’Connor’s reputation grew, and
she continued to write, lecture, and teach until her death in 1964. Everything
That Rises Must Converge, her second volume of short stories, was published
posthumously in 1965, and she posthumously won the National Book Award in 1972
for her Collected Stories. O’Connor’s popularity has increased since her death,
and many now deem her one of the best short story writers of the twentieth
century.
“Everything That Rises Must Converge” was written in 1961 in the midst of
the American civil rights movement. The ideas of intergenerational conflict and
transforming social mores play out against the backdrop of racial desegregation
in the South. O’Connor’s story focuses on tensions that emerged after
integration. Uncomfortable depicting the interior life of black Americans, she
avoided incorporating black characters into her stories except as chorus
figures or fringe characters, as is evident in this story. Still, the black
characters’ silence in this story adds to the sense of tension between whites
and African Americans in the mid-twentieth-century South.
Plot Overview
Julian, a recent college graduate, prepares to escort his mother to her
weekly weight-loss class at the YMCA, which she attends to reduce her high
blood pressure. He escorts her there every week because she has refused to take
the bus alone since integration. She adjusts her garish new hat and
contemplates returning it to pay the monthly gas bill. While walking through
their dilapidated neighborhood, Julian imagines moving to a house in the
country. He declares that he will one day make money, even though he knows he
never really will. His mother encourages him to dream, saying that it will take
time to establish himself.
She continues to chatter, mentioning that her grandfather once owned a
plantation with 200 slaves. Embarrassed, Julian comments that the days of
slavery are over, to which she replies that blacks should be free to rise but
should do so separately from whites. Both think about the grandfather’s house
again, and Julian grows envious, despite the fact that he only saw the house in
ruins as a boy. As his mother talks about her black nurse, Caroline, Julian
resolves to sit next to a black person on the bus in reparation for his
mother’s prejudices.
When they arrive at the bus stop, Julian baits his mother by removing his
tie, prompting her to exclaim that he looks like a thug. Julian retorts that
true culture is in the mind and not reflected by how one acts or looks, as his
mother believes. As they bicker, the bus pulls up and they board. Julian’s mother
strikes up conversation with other passengers, eventually pointing out with
relief that there are only white people on the bus. Another woman joins in, and
the subject of the discussion turns to Julian. Julian’s mother comments that he
works as a typewriter salesman but wants to be a writer. Julian withdraws into
a mental bubble. He judges his mother for her opinions, believing that she
lives in a distorted fantasy world of false graciousness. Although he feels
nothing but disdain for her, she has made sacrifices so that he could have a
good education.
The bus stops and a well-dressed African American man boards, sits down,
and opens a newspaper. Julian imagines striking up conversation with him just
to make his mother uncomfortable. Instead, he asks for a light, in spite of the
no-smoking signs and the fact that he doesn’t have any cigarettes. He awkwardly
returns the matches to the man, who glares at him. Julian dreams up new ways to
teach his mother a lesson, imagining that he will ignore her as she gets off
the bus, which would force her to worry that he may not pick her up after her
exercise class.
Julian retreats deeper into his thoughts, daydreaming about bringing a
black lawyer or professor home for dinner or about his mother becoming sick and
requiring treatment from a black doctor. Though he would not want to give his
mother a stroke, he fantasizes about bringing a black woman home and forcing
his mother to accept her. Despite these fantasies, he remembers how he has
failed to connect with the African Americans with whom he has struck up
conversations in the past.
The bus stops again, and a stern-looking black woman boards with her young
son in tow. Julian senses something familiar about her, but he doesn’t know
why. The little boy clambers onto the seat next to Julian’s mother, while the
black woman squeezes into the seat next to Julian. Julian’s mother likes all
children regardless of race and smiles at the little boy. He then realizes with
delight that the black woman seems so familiar because she wears the same ugly
hat as his mother, and he hopes the coincidence will teach his mother a lesson.
The black woman angrily calls out to her son, Carver, yanking him to her side.
Julian’s mother tries to play peek-a-boo with the little boy, but the black
woman ignores her and chastises her son instead.
Julian and the black woman both pull the signal cord at the same time to
get off the bus. Julian realizes with horror that his mother will try to give
Carver a nickel as she does with all little children. While they disembark, his
mother searches through her purse but can find only a penny. Despite Julian’s
warnings, his mother calls after Carver and tells him she has a shiny new penny
for him. Carver’s mother explodes with rage, shouting “He don’t take nobody’s
pennies!” She swings her massive purse and knocks Julian’s mother down to the
ground, then drags Carver away.
Julian berates his mother as he collects her items and pulls her up.
Disoriented, she sways for a moment before stumbling off. Julian follows and
lectures her, saying that she should learn from her encounter with the woman on
the bus, who represents all African Americans and their distaste for
condescending handouts. Reaching out to grab her arm, he sees a strange
expression on her face. She tells him to call for Grandpa or her nurse,
Caroline, to fetch her. Wresting herself from his grasp, she crumples to the
pavement. Julian rushes to her and finds her face distorted, one eye rolling
around and the other fixed on his face before finally closing. Julian starts to
run for help but quickly returns to his mother’s side.
Character List
Julian - An embittered recent
college graduate who lives with his mother. Julian sells typewriters to make
money while he halfheartedly pursues his ambition to be a writer. He has
nothing but contempt for his doting mother, whom he believes has foolish,
outdated manners and is detached from the realities of the changing world.
Julian espouses the progressive ideologies of racial equality that he learned
in college but finds himself unable to act on them or engage in any meaningful
conversation with African Americans. He secretly longs for the comfort and
privacy of his grandfather’s mansion on the old family plantation, despite his
avowed repudiation of the family’s status as former slaveholders.
Read an in-depth analysis of Julian.
Julian’s Mother - A middle-aged
woman from an old southern family who is enrolled in an exercise class at the
YMCA. Julian’s mother dotes on her son and has made tremendous sacrifices so
that he could have personal and educational opportunities. Julian’s mother
lives modestly and looks back longingly on the family history, reminiscing
about the family plantation and the political and social influence held by
previous generations of the family. She believes that the races should remain
segregated and has a condescending way of treating blacks.
Read an in-depth analysis of Julian’s Mother.
Carver’s Mother - A tired and
impatient black woman on the bus, the mother of young Carver. Carver’s mother
boards the bus and angrily chastises Carver for playing with Julian’s mother.
When Julian’s mother gives Carver a penny, his mother flies into a rage and
knocks Julian’s mother to the ground with her large purse. She wears the same
foolish purple-and-green hat that Julian’s mother wears.
Carver - A four-year-old boy on the
bus, the son of the imposing black woman. Carver seems oblivious to his
mother’s harsh attitude and tries to play with Julian’s mother on the bus.
The Well-Dressed Black Man - A black
man dressed in a suit and carrying a briefcase. He sits next to Julian on the
bus and reads a paper, growing irritated when Julian asks him for matches.
Julian wants to chat with the black man to make his mother uncomfortable but
fails in his attempts to make small talk.
The Woman with the Red-and-White Canvas Shoes - A white passenger on the bus. She shares
Julian’s mother’s narrow view of race and moves to the back row of seats when
the black man in the suit boards the bus.
The Woman with the Protruding Teeth -
A white passenger on the bus. She chats with Julian’s mother about the
heat and gets off the bus when the black man in the suit boards.
Analysis of Major Characters
Julian
Although he professes to have liberated, intellectual views about race,
Julian is in many ways just as petty and small-minded as he perceives his
mother to be. Julian has grown up with a narrow set of experiences, influenced
by his overbearing mother’s limited worldview. Because of his college
education, however, he has acquired a new set of enlightened perspectives
regarding race and social equality. Julian attempts to distinguish himself from
his mother’s antiquated beliefs by publicly demonstrating his liberal views on
integration and racial relations. Throughout the story, he makes failed
attempts to connect to blacks and repeatedly discovers that the people with
whom he converses do not live up to his idealized expectations of them. When he
tries to strike up conversation with the black man in the suit on the bus, for
example, he comes across as awkward and intrusive. Julian desperately wants to
demonstrate that he can communicate and connect to blacks, but he finds himself
unable to connect to other people on their own terms, particularly across
racial lines.
Julian seems to have no more understanding of African Americans than his
bigoted mother, despite the liberal views he espouses. It becomes increasingly
clear as the story progresses that he speaks of racial equality only to annoy
his mother, not out of any compassion for black Americans. In fact, his
irritation with his mother’s outdated views may even reflect irritation with
himself for being unable to connect with blacks or even engage in small talk
with them. For him, African Americans are a class of people he doesn’t
understand, foreign enough that he fantasizes about bringing one or two of them
home not as individuals but as trophies of his education and liberalism to be
paraded in front of his mother. Julian’s unrealistic perception of blacks and racial
equality, therefore, isolates him from reality.
Julian’s Mother
Julian’s mother’s patronizing attitude toward blacks derives from fear and
her dated perceptions of society and racial equality. Because of her
upbringing, she has strict ideas about racial division, and her belief in
segregation allows her to speak affectionately about her nurse, Caroline, while
simultaneously believing that blacks were better off as slaves. In her mind,
blacks should only be allowed to rise on their “own side of the fence” because
full integration poses a danger to the social order. At the same time, she
adheres to the older social norms, which prompt her to give Carver a penny
without understanding the racist and patronizing nature of the act. She
functions as a model of old southern gentility, harboring racist attitudes
while maintaining a strong sense of social decorum. Ironically, the climax of
the story pushes Julian’s mother even further back into the past. After her
apparent stroke, she becomes confused and disoriented, calling out for her
father and her nurse, Caroline, both of whom are long dead, because she
associates them with security and comfort.
Themes, Motifs, and Symbols
Themes
Social Conflict as a Generational Conflict
O’Connor places the broader 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 many ways, Julian’s
mother 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. Julian, meanwhile, eagerly seeks to embrace the new, integrated South
and the promises of greater prosperity and racial equality. He rejects the
older social order and espouses the liberal ideas of a younger generation,
condemning older whites’ attitudes regarding race. Like most young, idealistic
Southerners, however, he has trouble acting on his convictions and fully
treating blacks as equals or even people. Julian’s clashes with his mother over
dress, race, and appearances in general mimic the greater conflict in society
and ultimately result in violence.
Appearance as a Faulty Measure of Reality
Both Julian and his mother rely heavily on appearances to separate and
elevate themselves from the rest of society. 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 mother’s delusions
illustrate the unreliability of appearances.
Lineage as Safety
Julian’s and his mother’s longing for the grandeur of the past suggests
that neither character has fully come to terms with their lives as poor whites
in an integrated South. For both characters, the past serves as safety net—a
place filled with prosperity and sunshine, untroubled by poverty and social
upheaval, and recalling the past allows them to continue living in a changing
world they don’t understand. For Julian’s mother, the family heritage gives her
an immutable social standing despite the fact that she lacks the money or
prestige that her family once had. As a result, she has a distorted perception
of her place in the world. Julian feels tormented by his family history and
agonizes over the family connection to slavery, yet he still dreams of the past
to escape his dreary life as an educated typewriter salesman.
Motifs
Social Conduct
Julian’s mother believes that social conduct reflects a person’s true
nature, whereas Julian believes that social conduct reveals an unwillingness to
adapt to social change. Julian’s mother pays slavish attention to her manners
and behavior, believing that the way a person does things reflects who they
truly are. She emphasizes dressing well and behaving graciously, especially
when in public. Although her family is no longer wealthy, she still conducts
herself as though she is a woman of importance. Julian has an altogether
different view of social conduct, believing that the content of a person’s mind
reveals who they are. He believes that his intellectual views, not his dress or
manners, dictate who he is. Julian’s mother’s strict adherence to social
conduct infuriates Julian, who believes that her actions demonstrate her
ignorance and unwillingness to accept her lower social standing in a rapidly
changing society.
Symbols
The Hat
The same hat that Julian’s mother and the large black woman wear symbolizes
the transforming cultural landscape of the 1960s South, which has put the two
women on equal social footing. Historically, racial differences would have
automatically placed Julian’s mother on a higher social plane than the black
woman, regardless of similarities or differences in wealth, education, and
appearance. Desegregation, however, elevated African Americans and
simultaneously stripped pretenses of superiority from poorer whites. The hat
visually demonstrates that both women are now essentially the same: they both
ride the same public transportation, shop in the same stores, and even have the
same taste in clothing. It also highlights the absurdity of segregation and
racial inequality, suggesting that people are more alike than different.
The Penny
The penny that Julian’s mother gives to Carver represents her patronizing
attitude toward all African Americans. Even though she wants to give the penny
out of kindness, Julian’s mother fails to recognize the offer’s condescending
and patronizing overtones. White Americans had denied blacks opportunity and
access to material goods and wealth for hundreds of years, providing them only
the necessities for basic living and expecting them to work happily as slaves.
Giving money to Carver, therefore, is a symbolic continuation of blacks’
dependence on whites. Fueled by centuries of anger and the promises of the
growing civil rights movement, Carver’s mother lashes out to establish her
status as an independent being and reject historical subservience to white
patronage.
Analysis
O’Connor and the Southern Gothic Tradition
Although “Everything That Rises Must Converge” cannot be strictly
classified as Southern Gothic literature, the story nevertheless draws upon
many aspects of the genre, most notably its treatment of setting and tone. A
subgenre of American literature, Southern Gothic writing utilizes strange
events, eccentric characters, and local color to create a moody and unsettling
depiction of life in the American South. Southern history figures prominently,
and stories usually draw upon the tragic history of slavery, lingering feelings
of defeated regional pride after the Civil War, and isolated, often neglected,
locales. People, places, and events in Southern Gothic literature appear to be
normal at first glance, but they eventually reveal themselves to be strange,
disturbing, and sometimes horrific. Although she loathed the label, O’Connor was
a master of the genre while simultaneously keeping a tone of realism in her
novels and short stories. Her prose, for example, emphasizes the truths of her
characters’ actions rather than their quirky peculiarities. Despite the often
apocalyptic, surreal tone of her writing, her works always contain believable
actions and choices. O’Connor grounds the story in reality by deemphasizing the
eerie, disquieting tone of the backdrop and focusing instead on the
relationships and events that drive the narrative.
The dark, strange setting emphasizes the mood of faded grandeur and urban
decay and puts the story’s events into context. O’Connor, for example,
describes the houses near Julian’s as “bulbous liver-colored monstrosities of a
uniform ugliness” against the “dying violet” of the sunset. Dirty children
squat outside these houses in a neighborhood that has long passed its prime.
Southern history unfolds once again as both Julian and his mother fantasize
about lost plantations and prestige, forcing readers to confront the
uncomfortable and vexing legacy of slavery. The strange supporting characters,
such as the imposing black woman and white woman with protruding buckteeth,
also add to the unsettling feeling that permeates the town. The final moment of
the story is apocalyptic in tone, with the major characters pushed back into
the past as their perspective on the world becomes strange, distorted, and
unfamiliar.
Historical Context
“Everything That Rises Must Converge” takes place during the civil rights
movement when federal, state, and local governments made sweeping reforms in
the North and South to end poverty and racial discrimination. By the 1950s, the
aristocratic plantation system in the South had been fully dismantled, and
urban areas swelled with an influx of job seekers from rural areas. At the same
time, college admissions swelled as higher education became more affordable for
a greater number of whites and a minority of blacks. American blacks in the
North and South achieved a major milestone in the 1954 decision in Brown v.
Board of Education, when the Supreme Court repealed the “separate but equal”
guideline that had separated blacks from whites in almost all public areas.
Rosa Parks’s refusal to give up her seat on a public bus to a white passenger a
year later in 1955, as well as her subsequent arrest, launched the Montgomery
Bus Boycott and the peaceful protest campaign to end segregation.
All the characters in O’Connor’s story struggle to either maintain or
redefine their sense of identity as the drama of the civil rights movement
unfolds. The white women on the bus, for example, deride black passengers in
order to reestablish their social dominance. Julian’s mother does this as well
by repeatedly arguing—as if trying to convince herself—that her heritage makes
her superior to blacks and even other whites. Julian, whose college education
actually makes him a benefactor of the changing social climate, oscillates
between classes and visions of society, often harping on social inequalities
while simultaneously daydreaming of a bygone era. All the African American
characters, meanwhile, take advantage of the growing equality to assert their
individuality and respectability as an equal class of citizens. It is not
surprising, therefore, that the black man Julies tries to befriend is the
best-dressed person on the bus or that the large black woman with the ugly hat
strikes Julian’s mother for having offered Carver a penny. Like all American
blacks in the 1960s, these characters refuse to accept further subjugation and
condescension.
Moral Ambiguity
Despite Julian’s and his mother’s racist attitudes toward blacks, neither
character is truly immoral, allowing O’Connor to comment on the underlying
racism prevalent throughout American society. O’Connor avoids conventional
stereotypes of racist white Southerners to subtly demonstrate that most white
Americans—including otherwise kind and well-intentioned people—often harbor
racist attitudes without even realizing it. Even though Julian’s mother plays
peek-a-boo with the little boy, Carver, for example, she nevertheless believes
blacks lived better lives as slaves underneath white masters than they do in
the 1960s. She deplores the state of contemporary America but tempers her
condemnation with optimism, promising Julian that his fortunes will eventually
turn. Her decision to give Carver a penny, meanwhile, further demonstrates her
kindness and love of children and simultaneously highlights her patronizing
attitude toward blacks.
The inherently racist attitudes that lurk in Julian’s subconscious belie
his professed liberal opinions of race and equality and make him a morally
ambiguous character as well. His longing for the material wealth of his
great-grandfather’s plantation implies that he hasn’t fully accepted integration
or racial equality. His inability to relate to African Americans also suggests
that he may not see them as people like himself or even as people at all, given
the fact that he daydreams of bringing influential black “catches” home just to
parade in front of his mother. Yet at the same time, his liberal education and
annoyance with the racist women on the bus set him apart. Unlike most white
Southerners, he at least recognizes that segregation, not integration, is the
fundamental problem of 1960s America. Readers consequently get a mixed view of
Julian and his mother: neither are stereotypically evil people, but neither are
accepting individuals either.
Important Quotations Explained
1. “True culture is in the mind, the mind,” he said, and tapped his head,
“the mind.”
“It’s in the heart,” she said, “and in how you do things, and how you do
things is because of who you are.”
Explanation for Quotation 1 >>
Despite Julian’s and his mother’s seemingly conflicting opinions, both
opinions made in the beginning of the story on the bus ride to the YMCA reflect
Julian’s and his mother’s inability to confront their own poverty and the
changing social landscape around them. Julian’s mother, for example, claims to
believe that manners and gentility come from good breeding. The fact that her
family once had political influence and wealth—not to mention power over the
lives of 200 slaves—deeply troubles her, prompting her to overcompensate for
this loss by always dressing and looking her best in public. She seems to
relish the fact that she’s the only woman at the YMCA who dresses up for
classes and has a college-educated son. Equating family lineage with identity
also allows her to live more happily under the false conviction that she is
actually better than everyone else and certainly better than the descendents of
“uppity” former slaves.
Julian, on the other hand, uses his college education to elevate himself
above those around him. Although he professes to have liberal views regarding
race, equality, and social justice, he rarely acts on these convictions and
uses them primarily to boost his own fragile ego. His fantasies of finding
influential black friends and lovers are testaments to just how unrealistic his
views are. If he truly believed in racial equality, he wouldn’t care about his
friends’ skin color. As it is, he can’t even engage in small talk with fellow
black passengers. Convincing himself otherwise, however, allows him to deal
with his frustration as a typewriter salesman and separate himself from his
mother and the poverty that surrounds him.
Close
2. “Don’t think that was just an uppity Negro woman,” he said. “That was
the whole colored race, which will no longer take your condescending pennies.
That was your black double.”
Explanation for Quotation 2 >>
The black woman acts for all African Americans when she strikes Julian’s
mother with her purse at the end of the story, refusing to succumb to any more
subjugation and condescension from whites. Julian understands this and tries to
explain to his mother why the black woman hit her. The black woman seems to
bristle with rage from the moment of her introduction, poised to explode like a
volcano. Though she says little, she seems ready to lash out at any person who
might treat her with disrespect. Her barely concealed anger represents the
anger suppressed by blacks through years of slavery, mistreatment, and
oppression under white patronage. The fact that she wears the same hat and
rides the same bus as Julian’s mother highlights the similarities between the
two seemingly very different women. Integration has effectively equalized them.
Full Bibliographic Citation
MLA
SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Everything That Rises Must Converge.”
SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2007. Web. 17 Mar. 2011.
The Chicago Manual of Style
SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Everything That Rises Must Converge.”
SparkNotes LLC. 2007.
http://www.sparknotes.com/short-stories/everything-that-rises-must-converge/
(accessed March 17, 2011).
APA
SparkNotes Editors. (2007). SparkNote on Everything That Rises Must
Converge. Retrieved March 17, 2011, from
http://www.sparknotes.com/short-stories/everything-that-rises-must-converge/
In Text Citation
MLA
“Their conversation is awkward, especially when she mentions Wickham, a
subject Darcy clearly wishes to avoid” (SparkNotes Editors).
APA
“Their conversation is awkward, especially when she mentions Wickham, a
subject Darcy clearly wishes to avoid” (SparkNotes Editors, 2007).
Footnote
The Chicago Manual of Style
Chicago requires the use of footnotes, rather than parenthetical citations,
in conjunction with a list of works cited when dealing with literature.
1 SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Everything That Rises Must Converge.”
SparkNotes LLC. 2007. http://www.sparknotes.com/short-stories/everything-that-rises-must-converge/
(accessed March 17, 2011).
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