Preview

Everything That Rises Must Converge Analysis Essay Example

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1186 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Everything That Rises Must Converge Analysis Essay Example
Rising from Bigotry to Converge in Equality “Everything That Rises must converge”, by Flannery O’ Connor is sometimes considered a comical but also serious tale of a grown man named Julian, who lives with mother, who happens to be your typical southern woman. The era unfolds in a couple years after integration begins. Throughout the story, O’Connor impresses us with her derived message in which people often resist to growing away from bigotry towards self-awareness and love for all humankind, which is so necessary for life to converge in equality. O’Connor has a distinctive style of writing that expresses this message through characterization, conflict and literary devices.
From the first page, Flannery O’Connor does a great job describing the significant differences between Julian and his mother. Her characterization skills are fulfilled to the max. Julian’s mother comes off as a strong and hard-headed woman who has the mindset that Negros are inferior to whites. “’They were better off when they were [slaves],’ she said…. They should rise but on their own side of the fence.’” Julian’s mother is double-minded and shallow unlike her son Julian. These were thoughts like these that brought among conflict between the two. Julian “…in spite of all her foolish views…was free of prejudice and unafraid to face facts. He was not dominated by his mother. Julian who grew up in a changing society was influenced differently.
Julian is a young, very intelligent, college graduate who plans to be a writer someday. His actions let us know that he does not enjoy being around his mother. “Julian walked with his hands in his pockets, his head down and thrust forward and his eyes glazed with the determination to make himself completely numb during the time he would be sacrificed to her pleasure.” Julian is in constant disagreement with his mother and because he can’t stand her bigotry and ideas, he ignores her physical presence when he’s with her. “Behind the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    “Let’s stop believing that our differences make us superior or inferior to one another”- Don Miguel Ruiz. The novel “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett is a controversial and heart-wrenching story that depicts the cruel brutality and inequality that African Americans faced in Jackson, Mississippi during the early 1960’s. In the novel, Stockett shows the inequality between races, how Caucasian Americans believed they were superior, and the bigotry between social classes through the characterization of the main characters and bringing forth facts from that time setting. These issues have changed over the years but are yet still here in a more subtle way.…

    • 102 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The struggle of equality between black and white communities has been a long and tiresome road. Since Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun” is a conflicting short story, play, and film many people has analyzed Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun” and have come up with different views or understandings as have Lipari and Saber. While Lisbeth Lipari focuses more on a rhetorical analysis, Yomna Saber emphasizes more on the line between integration and assimilation. In the next several paragraphs the views and interpretations of Lipari and Saber will be examined.…

    • 808 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The injustice of racism and its evident role in some of Americas most prominent political and social aspects have perpetuated rigorous and squalor lifestyles for those of non-Caucasian ancestry. Jacqueline Moore clearly states evidence how white people have such a long history of being the dominant group and why it is so hard for blacks to assimilate. In the book the writer simply told us a story of 2 men’s journeys for racial uplift and wanted us to decide the theme for ourselves, telling both sides of the story in order to let us choose which of them we might agree with more. The author did a good job letting us know Washington and Du Bois’s goals. The style of the novel is interconnected with its themes. In the novel, not only does Moore convey the ideas and concepts of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Dubois, but Moore also illustrates the theories of which consists of gradualism and immediacy.…

    • 968 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Have you ever experienced discrimination and/or racism? It is my belief that, sadly, most of us have; for this paper I have chosen to compare and contrast the literary works, “The Welcome Table” by Alice Walker, and “Country Lovers” by Nadine Gordimer. Both of these literary pieces give the reader awareness of the pain and suffering endured by the two African-American characters that were subject to racial discrimination and the superior mentality of those that participated in the discrimination. Discrimination and racism is the core issue in both of these short stories; I will address the subject of racism in various ways. A similarity of both short stories is that the narrator reveals the characters through observation which means both stories are told in the third-person omniscient point of view. I will explore how the narrator drew me in when reading each of the stories. I can relate to to each through experiences in my life's journey, and will explore those emotions a bit as well. The stories authors will also be compared and contrasted and compared.…

    • 2304 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Black oppression was around for over a hundred years. The idea of white supremacy was concocted in order for the white race to feed their ego. Key figures, including Langston Hughes and Maya Angelou, wrote about their experiences in the point of view of an oppressed African American struggling with racism. Langston Hughes’s poem “I, Too, Sing America” and Maya Angelou’s poem “Still I Rise” are a response to the hatred in the white man’s heart. Although these two poems share similar goals, they have elements that cause them to contrast.…

    • 618 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Summon a vision of yourself in a crowded setting, surrounded by white men, women, children and seniors. With that image carved, draw yourself as a young African American in the 1960s, despised by the white man. Though you stick out like a sore thumb, eyes glance past you, blinded in your midst. An ‘outcast’ has now become your terminal label- segregated, judged, despised. Does this story sound familiar? Yes, it does, as millions of books in the 21st century alone, have exhibited these themes. While eloquently written, Melba Patillo Beals unoriginality in the subject of hardships in African American lives in the time of severe oppression makes this story a tale told too often, which should not be exposed to a classroom of easily distracted teenagers.…

    • 726 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Maya Angelou Still I Rise

    • 1397 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Deemed as one of the most prolific works of poetry, Still I Rise certainly impressed me and surpassed all of my expectations. Still I Rise is such an inspirational and motivational text in that it empowers its audience to think about the morality of certain beliefs in society as well as empower those who are weak and vulnerable in society. Still I Rise reinforces the idea that racial prejudice is still prevalent in the world we live in today. This poem is exceedingly special and memorable due to the fact that there is a key valuable message from which individuals, from all walks of life, can certainly benefit from. During this response, I will be discussing what I deem to be interesting aspects of the text which include: the portrayal of the…

    • 1397 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    “The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line” – DuBios. People of color have had the worst of sufferings around the globe, from slavery to racism and hate; DuBios addresses the problem that despite that people of color are free, they suffer the early hate of the post civil war era, and are always known as the “problem” of the white dominated society. For many decades the people of color lived in a state of double consciousness, stuck on the invisible side of a veil that cloaks their voice into silence. In Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, the author confronts the same problem through the life of the female heroine Janie and her quest of identity. On her way Janie is met with many challenges that raise eyebrows and gossiping that quickly plagues the people around her like an epidemic, with quick judgment ensuing.…

    • 428 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The few times where the author gives the reader glimpses into Julian’s home-life or backstory, the opinions of his parents demonstrate where Julian gets his attitude. Jack tells his mom that Julian’s mom actually photoshopped August’s face out of the class picture and gave out copies (158). This action mirrors the disgust for August Julian expresses. Some of the other kids’ parents who are more accepting provide a sharp contrast to Julian’s mom. For example, Charlotte says “Just so you know, my mom thinks Julian’s mom is a total idiot. She said she thinks people like her are more concerned about what their kids’ class pictures look like than doing the right thing” (172). In the end, his ignorant parents could not accept the changes happening in the school and decide to transfer Julian out…

    • 830 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    There are always two sides to every coin. The novel A Gathering of Old Men by Earnest Gaines shows that everyone has a story to tell and that their reality is based on their point of view. That perception has a way of molding a person’s actions, relationships, and personality. Revitalizing society’s way of life and altering prejudice against another’s ethnicity is difficult when the scars run deeply through generations. Ernest J. Gaines does an excellent job of giving the reader insight to the individual experiences from the past that render changes difficult yet necessary.…

    • 1665 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    All of the characters in this book played a pivotal role in developing the themes of the book: justice, racism, prejudice, and sexism. The use of rhetorical devices allows for the author’s ideas to surface and enable the readers to encapsulate the concept of the text. Harper Lee used…

    • 885 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Superman and Me

    • 360 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The author wanted the audience to understand his view of equality by telling his life story. He’s a Indian who grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in eastern Washington State to a middle-class family that consisted of a mother, father, older brother and three sisters. He organizes his essay in a chronological structure. His father was trying to make the family live better. He love his father and he love books.…

    • 360 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    As she entered the local supermarket, everyone’s actions came to a standstill. They all watched her as she walked down the aisle minding her own business. Their eyes pierced into her dark flesh, discovering the humility that the woman felt as they watched every single one of her moves. The humiliation that she experienced caused her to question how one’s mind could be so immoral to the point where they discriminate people from society because of their skin color. She perpetually wondered what it would be like to be born a different skin color. It was challenging for the young woman to be a part of society without feeling discriminated by others. She longed for the time where color would not create a rift in society and instead would unite people…

    • 1551 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Claudia Rankine highlights social injustices that occur in the daily lives of people of color in her book “Citizen”. She put the wrong doings, prejudices and stereotypical situations against people of color into a collective story. It is troubling that these accounts occurred. These sort instances pinches something inside of you. A sense of irritation builds up. It puts into perspective that even in modern times such acts…

    • 347 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The purpose of Alice Walker’s novel The Color Purple and Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is to demonstrate the hardships that are met when ignorance and tradition bring about the influence of sexism, racism and genuine prejudice to the general public. Ignorance is the root cause of prejudice as it prevents one to see beauty, so when it comes to dealing with the discriminating behavior held in this social order, the vast majority of people are judged by the label and stereotype society has given them, not by the kind of person they are inside. Nevertheless, through these corrupt societies, the protagonists are able to experience incredible journeys of courage, growth and love. Bravery and love is crucial in both novels in order for the protagonists to break through their limiting boundaries and stand up for what they believe. Bravery in both is also essential for fighting against discrimination and when both protagonists transcend from innocence to experience, they becomes more aware of the harsh realities of prejudice and ignorance projected in the world. Through proper guidance, they come to understand what genuine evil is and what is simply given the label of being evil. Love is demonstrated to be capable of conquering the ignorance and courage opposes the notion of being disregarded. For instance, Scout comes to love Boo, conquering the ignorance that Maycomb has projected into her mind and Celie comes to fall in love as well as idolize Shug for her dominant ways, freeing herself from becoming indulged furthermore with the ignorance her surrounding present to her. The characters in both novels begin to use their certain dominance and authority in order to take matters under their own wings; in means of attempting to speak up for what their moral claims to be right. By elaborating on the epic journeys that the characters from both novels venture on, I intend to prove how the two corrupt societies are fueled by ignorance and…

    • 3826 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Powerful Essays