Short Story 'Everything That Rises Must Converge'

Everything That Narrows Will Reach an End
The short story “Everything That Rises Must Converge” centers on the dysfunctional relationship between recent college graduate Julian and his outspoken mother. Set during the civil rights movement, the author Flannery O’Connor uses racial tensions as a template to demonstrate how detrimental small mindedness can be in a relationship.The story consists simply of Julian’s mother traveling to her fitness class with her son via the bus. However, during this journey we see Julian’s mother’s blatant racism clash violently with Julian’s “educated” belief in equality and the integration of the black population in his community. Their opposing beliefs ultimately lead Julian to villainize his mother, making his desire to spite her or “teach her a lesson,” the number one priority in their relationship. Some, such as essayist Wyatt, fault Julian’s immaturity and selfishness for the demise of his relationship with his mother. On the other hand, many others sympathize with Julian’s situation and instead blame the demise on the mother’s ignorance. It is my personal opinion that they are both of equal fault and that the true culprit behind the demise of their relationship is their oversimplified and flawed conceptions of identity. And that it is due to these flawed conceptions that Julian and his …show more content…
You must learn to adapt and to grow to the current social and familial climate and not get so caught up in where you were, that you can’t see where you are. If Julian and his mother had followed her own advice, perhaps they wouldn’t be stuck pining after or hating what once was and learn to accept the current situation, and each other, for who they truly