For approximately sixty years, the fight for civil rights had taken the United States by storm and still continues to do so today. There have been arguments by various historians that claim that the millennial generation is strikingly similar to the youth from the 1960s, in which rebellion against discrimination was rampant. As progressive ideas become popular amongst the youth, there will always be people who try to fit in by supporting the movements in theory, yet refuse to take physical action to help. In Flannery O’Connor’s story, “Everything That Rises Must Converge,” a young man named Julian is angry with his mother for her racist attitude towards African-Americans. Although It would appear that Julian means well by supporting the rights
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Though he resents his family for once owning a plantation of slaves, he finds comfort in the mansion and lavish lifestyle of his rich, White ancestors. “It occurred to him that it was he, not she, who could have appreciated it. He preferred its threadbare elegance to anything he could name.” (611). Julian believes that he deserves the mansion instead of his mother, because he thinks her views are racist and out-of-date. This is because he sees himself superior due to his progressive mindset. Personally, I feel as if the mansion, or Julian’s “happy place”, is a representation of how he is in a bubble. To clarify, He imagines himself inside his family’s luxurious mansion although historically, slaves were suffering outside of it.He insists that he is a supporter of the African-American community, but hardly knows anything about their …show more content…
He claims that “culture is in the mind,” yet he only desires to befriend Black people who look “successful” such as lawyers and professors and not any others. His mother displays irony as well, as she disapproves of integration and civil rights for Black people, yet finds a Black child adorable and attempts to play with him. This goes to show that in the end, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree as both Julian and his mother reside in their own worlds of
Though he resents his family for once owning a plantation of slaves, he finds comfort in the mansion and lavish lifestyle of his rich, White ancestors. “It occurred to him that it was he, not she, who could have appreciated it. He preferred its threadbare elegance to anything he could name.” (611). Julian believes that he deserves the mansion instead of his mother, because he thinks her views are racist and out-of-date. This is because he sees himself superior due to his progressive mindset. Personally, I feel as if the mansion, or Julian’s “happy place”, is a representation of how he is in a bubble. To clarify, He imagines himself inside his family’s luxurious mansion although historically, slaves were suffering outside of it.He insists that he is a supporter of the African-American community, but hardly knows anything about their …show more content…
He claims that “culture is in the mind,” yet he only desires to befriend Black people who look “successful” such as lawyers and professors and not any others. His mother displays irony as well, as she disapproves of integration and civil rights for Black people, yet finds a Black child adorable and attempts to play with him. This goes to show that in the end, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree as both Julian and his mother reside in their own worlds of