Analysis Of Flannery O Connor's Everything That Rises Must Converge

In «Everything That Rises Must Converge» by Flannery O’Connor, Julian, the narrator, portrays his mother to look like a bad person when really he is the worse of the two. Because we hear the story through Julian’s perspective we are made to believe that his mother is a racist, stuck up old woman and Julian is simply the victim, having to live with her. While some of what Julian says may be true, this is not the case. Julian claims his mother to be racist and unable to change with the times, however his mother says that she believes blacks should be ‘equal but separate’. This shows the reader that she may not be as racist as he believes, his mother simply embraces the idea without wanting it to affect her life personally. It is not like she can help it either, she grew up in a time where racism and prejudice were the norm and widely accepted. Furthermore, Julian’s mother may not like black people, but she is not a bad person; She does not condemn children for their race, and also once she gets to know one she overlooks their race and learns to love them, as shown through her nanny growing
He never stops to think of how much his mother has done for him and what she has sacrificed out of love for her son. Julian’s mother, a widowed woman, worked hard and spent all of her money on an education for her son so that he would be able to make a better life for himself one day. She made her life a struggle so that her son would have a better chance. Now that he has graduated she still struggles in order to shelter and feed him until he finds a job where he can be comfortable and stand on his own two feet. She doesn’t hassle or nag him about finding work and moving out or even taking care of her, she still provides for him even if it means sacrificing her health. Her love for Julian is a mother’s unconditional love and he cannot see through his hate to understand his