Everything That Rises Must Converge, by Flannery O’Connor, is a story of a young man, Julian, who must escort his mother to a weight-loss class. Julian’s mother is a single mother who was able to put her son through college, and because of her sacrifices feels he should accompany her to her class. Julian’s mother is clearly racist and doesn’t want to ride the bus due to the recent integration. Julian is very proud of that he is not racist and wants to teach his mother a lesson.


When they got on the bus, a little African American boy sits next to Julian’s mother. She thinks the boy is cute, so as they get off the bus she offers the little boy a penny. The little boy’s mother takes offense to this and hit’s Julian’s mother. Eventually, this causes Julian’s mother to have a stroke.                                                                                                                      

The scene on the bus is very telling. Julian sits next to an African American man to show his mother, himself, and the man that he is not racist. Throughout the story Julian is constantly thinking about how enlightened he is and how simple his mother is. He even thinks to himself in reference to her influence that “…instead of being blinded by love for her as she was for him, he had cut himself emotionally free of her and could see her with complete objectivity” (O’Connor, 12). Yet, Julian has issues with class. He is well-educated, unlike his mother, and only has respect for people of means. Julian feels superior to his mother.

This is a story of discrimination. This is a story of children rising above the mistakes of their parents, unaware that they have only displaced that discrimination.

                                                  Works Cited

O’Connor, Flannery. Everything That Rises Must Converge. New York: Farrar, Staus and
     Giroux, 1965. Print.