Everything That Rises Must Converge

O’Connor’s “Everything That Rises Must Converge” would fit nicely into my essay on “What is in a Name.” In particular, Julian’s mother reminds me of Mrs. Compson in The Sound and the Fury. Similar to Mrs. Compson, Julian’s mother constantly reminds her son that they come from a “good” Southern family, who used to own plantations and lots of slaves. Specifically, because of her family’s past wealth and social status, she feels superior, especially to blacks, and self-important. She tells Julian that the people at the Y “are not our kind of people.” Despite Julian’s mother’s economic fall and loss of the family estate, she still finds her identity with her family’s past greatness. Julian, trying desperately to “teach his mother a lesson” and put her in her place, meanly tells her “You haven’t the foggiest idea where you stand now or who you are.” It is ironic that although Julian detests his mother’s constant reminder of her past and rejects her belief that she is a “gracious” and “good” human being because of her heritage, he secretly believes that he is the one who only really appreciated the home he grew up in.

Julian’s nasty and selfish qualities also remind me of Jason Compson. They both feel put upon by their mothers and treat them disrespectfully and with contempt. Julian is intent on humiliating his mother and proving to her that she is racist. He wants to see her squirm in her seat and thus tries to strike up a conversation with the black man sitting next to him. Ironically, the black man will have nothing to do with him. Julian only wants to put his mother in uncomfortable positions and even fantasizes that he brings home a black fiancée. Although believing that he is fair and ‘sees things as they really are,” he actually has no idea of his true inner self. He believes he is “liberal,” but feels superior because he thinks he is objective. In reality, he is the least objective. He believes himself to be smart and this also translates into his feelings of superiority, but he is unable to make it as a writer and sells typewriters. He thinks his mother is racist, but he considers himself to be above so many others because of his intelligence. He does not recognize what his mother really means to him until she is dying of a stroke on the street partially because of his own nastiness to her. It is not until this catastrophic event that Julian is forced to face his “guilt and sorrow.” Once again it is ironic that he is determined to teach his mother a lesson, but it is himself who ultimately learns the lesson.

O’Connor’s technique of ? parallelism makes the reader at first think the situation is comical, but then realism and its sobering moral lesson set in. When the black woman boards the bus and is wearing the same hat that Julian’s mother bought especially so she would not “meet” herself, there is a hint of comedy. But then once realizes that O’Connor is pointing out that although Julian’s mother is trying to maintain her superior identity by wearing her unique hat, she really is no different that the black woman to whom she feels so superior. On a bigger scale, O’Connor is showing how the two classes are “converging.” Also the parallelism of the two mother /sons is comical when O’Connor states how it is as if they switched sons. However, the strained and unhappy mother son relationship is evident in both on different levels. The black mother is almost abusive to the child, yelling at him, pulling him, and treating him meanly. Julian abuses his mother verbally also. Both relationships present tension between sibling and parent.