The Race Issue in Flannery O’connor's “Everything That Rises Must Converge.”
The Race Issue in Flannery O’Connor’s “Everything That Rises Must Converge.”
“Let’s skip it [fences],” (273) suggested Julian to his mother in Flannery O’Connor’s short story “Everything That Rises Must Converge.” What authoress says herself is “that the good novelist expresses feelings in symbols (qtd. in Paulson 156)”, and that is exactly what she uses in this story. By writing about fences she suggests us to jump over the differences which divide us and let us live on the same side of the fence. This poses one, very significant, question – are there enough similarities between races to raise them high enough and converge? Are we ready to skip the fence or we will rather trip over it? Another major symbol used by Flannery O’Connor in her short story was the hat. From what we know about hats they had been used from centuries to keep the head warm, signal profession but also “provided a simple and universally understood device for a protocol of respect” in the world of foreign service (Jansson 26) and “symbolized the honor borne by position and title” (Jansson 32). Moreover, as a symbol, hat also plays an important role in contemporary literature. One of such examples would be the novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger where the hat is a key attribute of the main character (Strauch 13). Also in O’Connor’s “Everything That Rises Must Converge” it is the hat worn by Julian’s mother and the Negro woman that is the key symbol. According to Teresa Bałazy, it can be a representation of motherhood (66) and of “the depraved and displaced condition of man” (68). Moreover, it can be symbolic of economical equality of Black and White (Walters 129) or signify the “doubling” of the two women (Walters 129). According to John May it is also a “shared emblem of human equality” (95), while Suzanne Paulson considers it a symbol of alienation, Julian’s mother buys it in order “to avoid acknowledging her connection to others” (83); to avoid meeting
“Let’s skip it [fences],” (273) suggested Julian to his mother in Flannery O’Connor’s short story “Everything That Rises Must Converge.” What authoress says herself is “that the good novelist expresses feelings in symbols (qtd. in Paulson 156)”, and that is exactly what she uses in this story. By writing about fences she suggests us to jump over the differences which divide us and let us live on the same side of the fence. This poses one, very significant, question – are there enough similarities between races to raise them high enough and converge? Are we ready to skip the fence or we will rather trip over it? Another major symbol used by Flannery O’Connor in her short story was the hat. From what we know about hats they had been used from centuries to keep the head warm, signal profession but also “provided a simple and universally understood device for a protocol of respect” in the world of foreign service (Jansson 26) and “symbolized the honor borne by position and title” (Jansson 32). Moreover, as a symbol, hat also plays an important role in contemporary literature. One of such examples would be the novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger where the hat is a key attribute of the main character (Strauch 13). Also in O’Connor’s “Everything That Rises Must Converge” it is the hat worn by Julian’s mother and the Negro woman that is the key symbol. According to Teresa Bałazy, it can be a representation of motherhood (66) and of “the depraved and displaced condition of man” (68). Moreover, it can be symbolic of economical equality of Black and White (Walters 129) or signify the “doubling” of the two women (Walters 129). According to John May it is also a “shared emblem of human equality” (95), while Suzanne Paulson considers it a symbol of alienation, Julian’s mother buys it in order “to avoid acknowledging her connection to others” (83); to avoid meeting
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