Dreisly Grullon

ENGL 11000/ C4
Professor Bubrow
3/3/17

Two Worlds Collided: Everything that Rises Must Converge

How would you feel growing up in a society where you think differently from everyone

else? Where youre accepting of all cultures and races but no one else is? In the short story

Everything that Rises Must Converge by Flannery O'Connor we are introduced to Julian, a

young man who had recently graduated college and is trying to make his way in the world, living

in the Southern United States in the 1960s, and his mother, a stubborn older woman who has the

mentality of almost everyone else her age during this time period and even today. The

relationship between Julian and his mother, who is never officially named, is a complicated one

and this becomes prominent as the story progresses. Most of the story takes place on an

integrated bus where Julian and his mother meet a variety of people, black and white, who test

their beliefs and relationship. This bus ride encompasses the main themes of the story: racism,

segregation, and hatred. Although Julian is portrayed as negative minded and malicious, and his

feelings towards his mother may seem repetitive and insignificant, this story is still relevant

today because his mother is just a product of her society, where the extreme differences between

the younger and older generations will always cause a clash in their ways of life.

It is prominent throughout the story that Julian does not think about his life and the world

around him in a normal, loving way. He is a pessimistic young man who sees it as depressing

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Dreisly Grullon
ENGL 11000/ C4
Professor Bubrow
3/3/17

and difficult and conveys these emotions frequently in the story. As one reads about the world

through his thoughts and actions, they cant help but feel pity for someone as miserable as Julian.

OConnor makes his character one who has been knocked down by life, being an aspiring writer

who has found himself in a hard place selling typewriters and still living in a place where he

would rather not be. An example of his gloomy demeanor is Julian walked with his hands in his

pockets, his head down and thrust forward and his eyes glazed with the determination to make

himself completely numb.. (OConnor, 274.) Descriptive sentences like this one are just the

beginning, Julian is a young man who is unhappy living in the society and family he was born in.

Since he desires to find someone to blame for these unalterable things, he takes his frustrations

out on his mother ordinarily, a repetitive and prominent action in the story.

It is not imperceptible to one who has read Everything That Rises Must Converge that

Julian has an extremely negative view of his mother. He views her not like a son does, but

objectively, filled with rage and hatred. Similarly to how his view of the world is perceived, with

descriptive, negatively toned sentences, so is his mother. An example of his animosity is The

further irony of all this was that in spite of her, he turned out so well. In spite of going to only a

third-rate college, he had. Come out with a first-rate education; in spite of growing up

dominated by a small mind, he had ended up with a large one.. He was free of prejudice and

unafraid to face facts.instead of being blinded by love for her.. he had cut himself emotionally

free of her and could see her with complete objectivity (OConnor, 281.) This quote sums up

the one sided relationship between Julian and his mother, he doesnt feel grateful to her for

raising him and supporting him. He sees her for her beliefs, something he finds repulsive and

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Dreisly Grullon
ENGL 11000/ C4
Professor Bubrow
3/3/17

does not respect. As Melvin G Williams, the author of Black and White: A Study in Flannery

O'Connor's Characters states, Julian is seen on two different levels-the superior way he sees

himself and the critical way we see him (Williams, 131.) Julian sees himself as much more

superior intellectually because he is more enlightened about the tensions in America and is more

accepting and modern. Julians mother on the other hand, may find it harder to face change at

a time like this.

The 1960s were a complicated time period in America, there was an effort for progress

and change, but those who were used to one specific way of life resented this entirely and did

anything they could to revert to the better times. Almost 60 years later, this story is still

relevant because we see members of the older generation fighting to elect leaders who want to

revert the progress made to a time where things were great. Julian and his mother are primary

examples of this clash between younger and old. Julians mother wants to maintain the name her

family had during the times of slavery, powerful and wealthy. She continues to make claims like

Your great-grandfather was a former governor of this state your grandfather was a

prosperous landowner and You remain what you are,.... Your great-grandfather had a

plantation and two hundred slaves (OConnor, 275.) Julians mother is clearly living in the past

and feels that even though times are drastically changing, she still holds the social status she did

before. Julian on the other hand is the complete opposite, he knows the position his family held

before doesnt matter now. He says things in response such as Will you look around you,..

And see where you are right now? and he swept his arm jerkily out to indicate the

neighborhood. He wants his mother, and all the people who grew up in a society with slaves

and substantial power over those who have darker skin, to understand that he doesnt think this

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Dreisly Grullon
ENGL 11000/ C4
Professor Bubrow
3/3/17

way and could care less about those who do, because his generation grew up in a position where

African Americans were just more people trying to make it in this world, and they shouldnt be

seen as any less. By being overly aggressive towards his mother, he is trying to show her that no

matter what she may think or how the times used to be, Whites are not better than African

Americans just because they have fairer skin. The short essay The Penny and The Nickel in

Everything that Rises Must Converge by John Ower states She represents the reactionary

element among white Southerners who want to reverse history. Julians mother would like to

return to the days of segregation and seemingly even to the era of slavery (Ower, 109.) These

fundamental differences between her and Julian are the base of their dysfunctional relationship.

In conclusion, Julians character in Everything that Rises Must Converge may be

depicted as critical and annoying, and his feelings towards his mother may be harsh and

repetitive, but there is still some truth to this story decades later because one remains in the

society they were born into, which causes conflict between the old and the new, who often

occupy two different worlds. Flannery OConnor uses historical significance and complex

characters to share a story about a boy and his mom at the turn of the century, who may be

placed in similar situations but are on completely opposite sides mentally and morally.

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Dreisly Grullon
ENGL 11000/ C4
Professor Bubrow
3/3/17

Work Cited
Ower, John. The Penny and The Nickel in Everything that Rises Must

Converge. South Carolina: EBSCO, 2002. Print. Accessed 3 March

2017.

Williams, Melvin. Black and White: A Study in Flannery OConnors

Characters. Missouri: JSTOR, 2016. Print. Accessed 3 March 2017.