Everything That Rises Must Converge Themes
Everything That Rises Must Converge has been written by an American writer, Mary Flannery O’Connor. This story has various analytical elements such as themes, symbols, and irony. In this article, I shall discuss Everything That Rises Must Converge themes that are:
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Racism:
In this story, the writer tells us that racial pride was being depicted by Julian’s mother. She says that the woman was the part of such a society that set racial differences between white and black people in the previous generations. But racial differences have been changed with the passage of time that Julian’s mother didn’t admit. The black people were not being treated as inferior as she thought. And, when this truth came out harshly in front of her, she couldn’t bear that because of her probable high blood pressure. When a black lady insulted Julian’s mother on the road for treating her son as an inferior being, she became ill and fell on the road after some time.
Reality versus perception:
In the story, we see some differences between the reality and perception of the leading characters. Julian’s mother thought that she was a well-mannered, superior, and sensible member of the society. However, she was not well-mannered for being proud and rude with others. And, she was not sensible regarding daily matters of life coz she used to follow her old ideas that have been outdated. On the other hand, her son (Julian) thought that he knew more about life. Julian was an educated typewriter salesman who recently graduated from his college. And, he wanted to become a successful writer. But he was struggling those days as a writer in the story. Anyways, he wasn’t optimistic about making much money in the future. Whereas the reality is your skills, plans, and executions define your success level in life. All kinds of success levels. Whether monetary or not.
Social order and disorder:
In Everything That Rises Must Converge, social orders and disorders have been discussed. The character of Julian’s mother represents an old social order that was replaced with a new one. Whereas the resistance of not accepting this change by her and some other people resulted in some tensions or disorders in the story. For example, when a negro or black man entered the bus, Julian’s mother whispered that she didn’t travel by herself on these buses due to the presence of black (inferior) people.
Family conflict:
In this short story, the author tells us how family conflict caused disturbance in the relationship of Julian and his mother. Their relation is unstable due to the lack of understanding between them. This lack is caused by the mother’s superiority complex that used to depress Julian regularly.
Past as disturbance source:
In the story, we notice that neither character ever came to terms with his/her present reality. Each character had some past memories that caused disturbance in his/her current life. For example, Julian had regular dreams about his family’s old luxurious residence. He had a bad impact on his present due to his past memories because he cannot relive those memories. On the other hand, Julian’s mother used to think about her past lifestyle to please herself and remind her son how high their rank was. And, this reminder disturbed their relationship because her son didn’t want to recall what he couldn’t have at present. These characters were disturbing their present due to their past unconsciously.
Religion:
In this story, religion plays its role significantly. But the writer doesn’t show its impact explicitly. Both Julian and his mother were living their lives in an unbalanced way. Both were extremely strict regarding their respective belief systems. Although Julian was saying right about racial equality to his mother in the end, he must have stopped his talking for the sake of her health that was getting worse. The writer implicitly told us that we must not be too strict with anything even if we are right. And, we must lead our lives in a balanced way by living in the present moment by accepting all the odds of our current time. Life is a mixture of plus and minus points. And, we must accept all of them to live a happy life.
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