Everything That Rises Must Converge Summary & Analysis

Read our detailed study guide on the short story Everything That Rises Must Converge by Flannery O’Connor. Our study guide covers Everything That Rises Must Converge summary, themes, characters, and literary analysis.

Everything That Rises Must Converge Summary

The story opens with Julian, who has returned back to his home in the South. He is a recent college graduate and lives with his mother. Julian attempts to start his career as a writer. Julian’s mother attends the weekly exercise class to control her blood pressure because of the prescription of the doctor.

Julian does not want to accompany his mother to the exercise classes. However, he reluctantly agrees because his mother is scared of riding the bus alone at the time because they are racially integrated.

When they both embark on one of such trips, Julia’s mother decides to wear an expensive purple hat that she has bought recently. They discuss social changes that have been taking place in the South and about the family’s history while walking to the bus stop.

Julian and his mother are from an aristocratic family. The great-grandfather of Julian owned a plantation with two hundred slaves and was the governor of the state. Julian was raised only by his mother in difficult circumstances and tough neighborhoods. The regal and sordid family history of Julian stands by the sharp relief of his life.

Julian and his mother eventually board the bus. Julian’s mother starts a conversation with The Woman with the Red and White Sandals and The Woman with the Protruding Teeth. They are the fellow white passengers who are lamenting the death of their southern tradition because of integration. His mother shows racism, and Julian starts getting angry towards her with a degree of unkindness. He tries to teach a lesson to his mother.

A well-Dressed Black Man enters the bus at the next stop. Julian sits with the man and leaves his mother to show her that black and white can enjoy each other’s company. However, The Well-Dressed Black Man wants to read his newspaper in peace and gets annoyed by the approach. Julian’s Mother turns angry.

At the next stop, Carver and Carver’s mother, and a draper black boy and his mother enter the bus. They take the next seat to Julian and his mother. Julian observes that Carver’s mother is wearing the same hat as that of his mother. Julian’s mother is happy to sit with Carver. She believes that all children are cut regardless of race. Carver’s Mother scolds Carver when he starts playing with Julian’s Mother.

When the bus stops, Carver, Carver’s Mother, Julian, and Julian’s Mother are preparing to disembark. Julian is having a strange feeling as his mother gives a coin to cute children. He is worried about how Carver’s Mother will perceive the gift.

When they disembark the bus, Julian’s Mother looks for nickel in her purse but only gets a penny. When she attempts to give the penny to Carver, Carver’s Mother strikes Julian’s Mother and walks away. Julian reaches out to his mother and starts intimating her for being unable to under racial equality and how others can perceive her gesture.

After the outburst of Julian, Julian’ Mother suffers an apparent stroke. Seeing the deformed image of his mother, Julian cries for help and is overcome with guilt.

Background of the Story

The short story “Everything That Rises Must Converge” was published in 1965 by Flannery O’Connor in his collection of short stories Everything That Rises Must Converge.

Historical Context

After the Civil War, the American states in the South passed different laws that enforce racial segregation in the South. Such laws were known as “Jim Crow Laws.” These laws intended to maintain the social domination of white people over black people. Plessy v. Ferguson, a ruling in the Supreme Court case, asserted that as long as the segregated public facilities are not operated at equal standards, they are legal.

This decision was overturned by Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954. This decision asserts that the segregated public facilities were inherently unequal. The integration of public places in the following years led to great violence. The integration of public transportation turned out to be the main cultural touchstone of the Civil Rights Movement.

The short story “Everything That Rises Must Converge” is published against this political setting. It challenges both the cynically wonders about the opportunity of racial harmony and the history of the South. Flannery O’Connor particularly probes into the mind of his white characters. He offers the provocative vision of the white people that might be able to assimilate into the cultural change.

Literary Context

The writing of O’Conner is often associated with the works of Southern writers who mainly deal with the history and culture of their region. Flannery O’Connor is a part of the Southern Gothic tradition. The Southern Gothic Tradition blends the style, setting, themes, and language of the South with the supernatural and grotesque occurrences, and eccentric and bizarre characters.

Due to this, the fiction works of writers such as Carson McCullers, Eudora Welty, and William Faulkner are commonly associated with that of O’Connor.

The works of O’Connor also deals with the themes of Christian ethics like redemption and grace as she was a devout Catholic. Because of the Christian themes, her works resemble that of Soren Kierkegaard or Simone Weil and other philosophical writers whose secular thinking has been guided by their religious devotion. O’Connor’s works are similar to the works of the celebrated Southern writer Walker Percy in regional color and religious themes.

Characters Analysis

Julian

Julian has recently graduated from college. He has returned to his home in the South and lives with his mother. He is planning to start his career as a writer. Julian is a self-possessed and idealistic person who has liberal views about racism. However, his views are in sharp contrast with the bigotry views of his mother and the racist culture of his hometown.

Compared to the unabashed racism that surrounds him, the moral scope of Julian is admirable. However, the way he interacts with black people shows that he, too, feels a kind of discomfort with them. The plot of the story unfolds with Julian’s attempt to balance the respect for his mother with his instinctual resentment for her prejudiced ways and his need to teach her a lesson.

Julian’s Mother

Julian’s Mother has come from the slave-owning family. The family suffered hard times. Julian raised her son alone in very difficult times. She laments the cultural changes that have been taking place in the South due to integration. She is worried about the death of royal tradition in her family and region both. Julian is annoyed by her bigoted attitude. He often fights with her because of her biased perspective about blacks.

The narrator of the story describes her as feeble-minded with a childlike attitude. She values appearances and manners and adores cute children regardless of race. She so much adores cute children that she often gifts them coins.

However, her repugnant attitude towards black can hardly be hiding with her offensive attitude towards black. His inability to understand the rolling cause of equality eventually leads her to be hit by Carver’s Mother and then suffer a stroke because of Julian’s anger.

Carver’s Mother

She is the black woman who enters the bus at a stop. She is wearing a hat that is similar to that of Julian’s Mother. She has a similarly antagonistic relationship with her. There are so many commonalities between Julian’s Mother and Carver’s Mother Julian concludes her to his mother’s “black double.” Carver’s Mother is excessively proud like Julian’s Mother. When Julian’s Mother tries to give a penny to Carver, she perceives it as condescending and strikes her with her purse.

Carver

He is a lively little black boy who boards the bus with his mother in which Julian and his mother are already boarded. Carver sits next to Julian’s Mother. He starts playing and interacting with Julian’s Mother. His mother warns him and also scorns him not to play. Even though he is black, Julian’s Mother likes him and tries to give him a penny.

The Well-Dressed Black Man

He is a well-dressed fashionable black passenger who boards the bus in which Julian and his mother are already boarded. In order to teach his mother a lesson, Julian goes and sits next to him. To Julian, The Well-Dressed Black Man appears to be a bourgeoisie black person with whom he can interact.

However, The Well-Dressed Black Man appears to be annoyed with Julian’s approach and wants to read the newspaper in peace rather than talking superficially to Julian.

The Woman with the Red-and-White Canvas Shoes

She is a white passenger on the bus on which Julian and Julian’s Mother board. She appears to have the same views about integration and cultural decline of the South tradition as that of Julian’s Mother. When The Well-Dressed Black Man boards the bus, she moves to the back seat.

The Woman with the Protruding Teeth

She is a white passenger on the bus on which Julian and Julian’s Mother boards. She talks about the heat, and when The Well-Dressed Black Man boards the bus, she gets off the bus.

Themes in the Story

Flannery O’Connor deals with the societal conflict of race relations in her story “Everything That Rises Must Converge” and places it in the context of a more volatile relationship that Julian has with his mother. She does so to establish a link between the two issues that altered the South in the 1960s. Julian’s Mother, in many ways, lives in the time of her ancestors with the harsh codes of conduct that determine the manner and behavior of blacks and whites both.

In the modern times of the twentieth century, these norms are no longer applicable to society, Julian’s Mother is strictly adhered to and resists the new changes that antidiscrimination and desegregation laws have brought. Meanwhile, Julian embraces the integrated South and the possibility of racial equality and greater prosperity.

Julian clearly espouses the liberal ideas and rejects the older social order. He also condemns the whites’ attitudes towards racism. However, Julian, like other idealistic and young Southerners, he is unable to act on his ideas and completely treats blacks as equal to him. Julian is also seen to be arguing with his mother about races, dressing, and appearance, and this symbolizes the larger conflict in society that eventually results in violence.

Appearance as a Defective Measure of Reality

Julian and his mother are heavily relying on appearances to disintegrate and raise themselves from the society in which they are living in the short story “Everything That Rises Must Converge.” For example, Julian’s Mother thinks that her public appearance and conduct will hide the fact that her family has lost her former wealth.

Moreover, she also judges other people on their appearances. She considers blacks as inherently inferior to them because of their skin color. The Well-Dressed Black Man, when he enters the bus, she looks down upon him regardless of the fact that he has dressed better than her son Julian.

Even when she realizes the black woman, Carver’s Mother, sitting next to him, is wearing the same hat, she considers herself superior to her.

Julian also relies on the outer appearances to quickly judge the people around him, despite the fact that he has been criticizing his mother for doing so. He does not like his neighborhood because of the evident poverty and runs down houses. He also resents the fact that he does not have the former wealth of his family.

To distinguish himself from his surroundings, Julian uses his education. He repeatedly claims that true culture is the product of a mind in a useless attempt to justify his failure as a writer. The unreliability of appearances in the story is shown through the delusion of Juliana and his mother.

Ancestry as Safety

Julian and his mother consistently long for the past in the story “Everything That Rises Must Converge.” This nostalgic behavior suggests that neither of the characters can get along with the lives of poor whites living in an integrated South. Past, for both of the characters, appears to serve as a safety net.

They consider their past as a place where sunshine and prosperity are not affected by social upheaval and poverty. Being nostalgic and consistently recalling the path, let them continue their lives in the transforming world that they are unable to understand.

The family heritage for Julian’s Mother is a source which gives her an unchangeable social standing regardless of the fact that her family does not have the wealth and prestige anymore. Therefore, Julian’s Mother has a distorted perception of the world she is living in.

Moreover, Julian is also tormented because of the history of his family and also resents that his family is connected to slavery. However, he still wishes that he has the wealth of his family. He imagines the past to escape from the hard life he is living.

Racism, Similarity, and Difference

The short story “Everything That Rises Must Converge” is set in the American South in the time when the law of racial integration has been passed in the state. The story is the portrayal of a time when people belonging to different races are interacting with each other in a unique way. Prejudice and racism continue to affect the perception of every character.

The story also deals with the fundamental fact that characters belonging to different races have some fundamental similarities. However, these people are unable to see these similarities because of their focus much on the differences. This fact makes it difficult for people to make connections.

In the text, Flannery O’Connor makes it very clear that Julian’s Mother is a strict racist. After the racial integration in the South, Julian’s Mother is scared of taking the bus ride alone. When she is on the bus with no black people inside it, she speaks aloud in a way she prefers to speak. Moreover, she strongly believes that Black and White are instinctively different from each other, so the integration announced by the state is completely unnatural.

However, the story “Everything That Rises Must Converge” suggests that white and black are not fundamentally different from each other. It, in fact, points out to the fact that all humans are fundamentally similar in one way or another. For example, there are many apparent similarities between the Carver’s Mother and Julian’s Mother.

Carver’s Mother is the woman who boards on the bus. Just like Julian’s Mother, she is known with her son’s name. She is wearing a hat that is similar to that of Julian’s Mother. Moreover, in her conduct and behavior, she is as proud as Julian’s Mother.

Julian also points out the similarities between his own mother and Carver’s Mother; even he, at one point, also describes Carver’s Mother’s his mother’s “black double.” He also hopes that his mother will also realize and recognize this similarity and takes it as a lesson that racism is something very absurd. However, Julian’s Mother is not able to realize and recognize any similarity as her views make her unable and incapable of making her realize it.

It is not only Julian’s Mother in the story who is not able to understand the similarities and differences between herself and other people surrounding her. Julia also appears to be disgusted with his mother’s racist attitude throughout the story. She sees herself superior to others. However, in reality, he is as patronizing to the black characters of the story as his mother is.

Julian and his mother share the same tendency to treat the black community of his town as something inferior to or other than human beings. Julian only treats black as a tool or symbol to put his moral argument forwards. Putting differently, he is interacting with black people so as to prove his moral superiority.

Julian’s inability to create significant connections with black people shows the emptiness of his beliefs. In spite of his idealistic views about racism, Julian admits that he is never able to make any “Negro friends.”

The story also deals with the idea that the pervasive racism that the black people faced throughout their lives make it impossible for them to believe in any good motivation of white people. Even though Julian’s Mother is a clear racist, she does not give a penny to Carver because she thinks he is inferior.

Julian instantly realizes the Carver’ Mother may not perceive the intentions of Julian’s Mother. Carver’s Mother becomes angry and hits Julian’s Mother with her purse and refuses the penny by considering it as a handout.

The racist structure of the society, of which Julian’s Mother is the part, makes it impossible for other people to accept the genuine act to connect with other people straightforwardly.

The title of the story is extracted from the work of a Jesuit philosopher Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. He developed the notion of “Omega Point.” It is the theological idea that proposes that in the universe, everything tends towards a point of spiritual unification. However, the way O’Connor takes on it is highly ironic as the way her character tries to force union on the bus has a drastic end.

The dialogue of the Julian’ Mother indirectly refers to the story as “They should rise yes, but on their own side of the fence,” thereby framing the idea of de Chardin in different but equal rhetoric of the South. When the story ends, there is one true moment of convergence: Julian feels suddenly sympathetic towards her mother when she suffers a stroke after being hit by the Carver’s Mother, which he derided for such a long time.

However, this a soiled unity, and Julian is pulled towards his mother because the “tide of darkness seemed to sweep him back to her.” This suggests that this moment will pull the ideas of Julian about race and difference and will align them with the ideas of his mother. The story, in short, proposes that a society blemished by racism cannot sustain the belief that people can come together by recognizing the similarity.

The short story “Everything That Rises Must Converge” mainly deals with the breaking of the conventional hierarchies in the society and the problems and tensions created by such changes. The aristocratic culture and honor of the old South in the United States were mainly formed on slavery and then on segregation is subject to a pluralistic and integrated society. However, this transition does not appear to be harmonious.

The character of Julian’s Mother embodies the older Southern culture. This culture emphasizes more on the identity and social position than the capabilities of the individual. The society of the South is formed on the conventional belief that social order and one’s position in the social order are natural. These social orders are the innate qualities that people are born with and never lose them.

Julian’s Mother appears to believe that culture is made of what is there inside the heart of an individual and how they do things. And both of these things are the result of the identity of an individual. Moreover, she asserts that her gracious personality is because she knows who she is, and Julian is ashamed of himself because he does not realize who he is.

Despite the fact that Julian’s Mother continually makes these assertions, the text clearly calls them absurd. The desire of Julian’s Mother to stick to her family’s bygone heritage results in her sense of the proper order in society. However, though Julian is clearly showing that the heritage is now no longer owned by his family and is in complete ruin.

The present gothic world in which they are living stands in total contradiction to the old “orderly” estate: for instance, the neighborhood in which Julian and his mother are living has a sky of dying violent color with the dwellings that are “liver-colored monstrosities of a uniform ugliness.” The death of the older order of the society is suggested by the spooky and death-tinged depiction of the place, particularly when it is compared with the romantic commemorations of the family.

The peak moment of the social order is shown when Carver’s Mother hits Julian’s Mother. The gothic and grotesqueness of the neighborhood is also extended to the face of Julian’s mother. The face of Julian’s mother becomes gruesome and distorted after suffering a stroke. The very body of Julian’s Mother becomes “disordered,” suggesting that she believes in the power of old order that has been ruined. The part order of Julian’s Mother was built on the fierce reality of slavery.

Considering the story in this light, Flannery O’Connor does not suggest that the old order has been replaced by the rise of something beautiful and newer order. However, she undermines the idea of order and disorder and suggests that the world does not have consistency and moral logic.

Literary Analysis

Despite the fact that the short story “Everything That Rises Must Converge” cannot be categorized in the Southern Gothic literature, the story in its treatment of tone and setting resembles the genre. Southern Gothic is the subgenre of American Literature. It utilizes the eccentric characters, strange events, and local color to create an unsettling and moody depiction of life in the South of America.

The Southern history stories and figures usually deal with the tragic history of slavery, and often neglected locals. The places, events, and people in the Southern Gothic literature seems to be normal; however, as the story progresses, they reveal themselves as disturbing, horrific, and strange.

Even though O’Connor does not like the label, she had mastered the genre along with keeping the realistic tone in her short stories and novels. The works of O’Connor highlights the truth of the actions of her characters instead of their idiosyncratic peculiarities. Even though her works have a surreal and apocalyptic tone, the actions and choices of her works are believable.

By deemphasizing strange and unnatural, O’Connor based the story on reality. She focuses more on the relationship and events that motivate the narrative along with the disquieting tone of the background.

The story has a dark and strange setting that emphasizes the mood of the story and puts the events of the story in context. The story has a mood of faded grandeur and urban decay. For example, the houses in the town are described as “bulbous liver-colored monstrosities of a uniform ugliness.” And the sun in the neighborhood of Julian is of dying violent color. There are dirty children roaming outside the houses.

Southern history is described in the story when Julian and his mother both are nostalgic about the former prestige and wealth of their family. It makes the readers face the vexing and uncomfortable legacy of slavery.

The effect of the unsettling feeling of the town is enhanced by the strange supporting characters like imposing black woman and white woman with protruding buck teeth. Moreover, the last scene of the story is apocalyptic in tone. The major characters of the story are pushed past as their view of the world becomes distorted, strange, and unfamiliar.

The short story “Everything That Rises Must Converge” is published against this political setting. It challenges both the cynically wonders about the opportunity of racial harmony and the history of the South. Flannery O’Connor particularly probes into the mind of his white characters. She offers the provocative vision of the white people that might be able to assimilate into the cultural change.

All the characters in the short story struggle with their identity: they either try to redefine or maintain their sense of identity when the civil rights movement ends. The white woman on the bus does not like passengers and talks about their loss of old southern tradition so as to reestablish their sense of social dominance. Julian’s Mother reputedly does this as if she is trying to convince herself that she is superior to other people because of her heritage.

Julian has acquired college education and actually has liberal views about racism and social inequality. He appears to be a benefactor of changing social climate. However, he oscillates between visions and classes of society. He harps on the social inequalities while also feeling nostalgic about the bygone time and heritage.

Meanwhile, all the African-Americans characters in the short story are taking advantage of changing circumstances and assert their respectability and individuality as equal citizens of the country.

Therefore, it does not appear to be surprising that the black man who boards on the bus is well-dressed that Julian and the black woman are wearing the same black hat like that of Julian’s Mother and strikes Julian’s Mother for giving her son a penny. The characters, like the American Blacks, refuse to be condescended or subjugated any further.

Moral Ambiguity in “Everything That Rises Must Converge”

Even though Julian and his mother have a racist attitude towards people, they are not really immoral. This makes the author talk about the prevalent racism in American society in the 1960s. O’Connor does not talk about the stereotypical and conventional racism of Southerners to illustrate that white Americans also show racist attitudes towards other people even without realizing it.

Despite the fact that Julian’s mother plays a game with the little black boy, Carver, she also has a belief that blacks were living better lives when they were slaves underneath white master than they are living after the Civil Rights Movement. Julian’s Mother attempts to criticize contemporary Americans; however, she also shows optimism in her criticism by promising Julian that his future, along with his fortune, will ultimately change.

Julian’s Mother’s kindness is also shown when she tries to give a penny to Carver and also highlights her superior attitude towards blacks.

Even though Julian has liberal views about equality and race, his inherently racist attitude also lurks in his subconscious. Therefore, it makes him a morally ambiguous character. His romantic idealization and longing for the material wealth of his great-grandfather show that he is unable to accept the integrated society and social equality fully.

Moreover, Julian’s inability to befriend or associate with Africa-Americans also proposes that he considers himself superior to him as he imagines bringing the influential black home so as to display in front of his mother. But, still, his annoyance with the white woman’s racism at bus and his liberal education set him different from the rest of the people.

He realizes that segregation is the major problem of 1960s America. Thus one can say that Julian and his mother are not stereotypically evil. However, none of them are able to accept the blacks are equal to them.

Motifs

The recurrent images, structures, and literary devices in a literary text are called Motifs. The emphasis on the idea helps develop the major themes of a work. The following are the motifs in the short story “Everything That Rises Must Converge” by Flannery O’Connor.

According to Julian’s Mother, the social conduct of a person shows his true social order and nature. However, Julian asserts that social conduct shows an individual’s unwillingness to adapt to social change. Julian’s Mother pays lots of attention and time to her manner and behavior in public. She believes that the way a person does or acts reveals who truly he is.

Julian’s Mother focuses on dressing well and behaving graciously. Even though her family heritage has been no more, she still behaves and conducts in a way that she is one of the important members of society and looks down upon her fellow beings.

However, Julian has a completely different view regarding the social conduct of a person. Julian believes that a person’s intellectual outlook and perception truly reveals who they are. He also asserts that the content of a person’s mind is much more important than what he is wearing.

Julian is highly infuriated with his mother’s strict adherence to social conduct. He thinks her mother shows her ignorance and unwillingness to accept her lower standings in the continuously changing society.

Symbols

Abstract ideas and concepts in a literary text are represented by objects, characters, and figures. The following are the symbols in the short story “Everything That Rises Must Converge” by Flannery O’Connor.

The Hat

The changing and transforming culture environment of the 1960s Southern American is shown with the similarity of the hats that Julian’s Mother and Carver’s Mother is wearing. The hat put the two different women belonging to two different races on equal social footing. Considering the history, Julian’s Mother is automatically placed on the higher social order despite the striking similarity and difference in education, wealth, and appearance.

However, after desegregation, the African-Americans were elevated, and they stripped facades of superiority from the poor whites. The same hat worn by Julian’s mother, a white race woman, and Carver’s Mother, a black race woman, shows that both of the women are the same.

They both shop from the same store, they both ride the same bus, and they both have the same taste of clothing. This also highlights the ridicule of segregation and racial inequality and suggests that people are more similar than different.

The Penny

Julian’s Mother, patronizing attitude towards all America-Africans, is shown by the penny that she gave to Carver. Even though she considers Carver a cut boy and gives him a penny out of her likeness and kindness, she fails to realize that her offer could lead to wrong understanding by Carver’s Mother.

For many centuries, blacks have been denied by the opportunity and access to wealth and material goods. The white would only provide them necessary. They have struggled and tolerated very much at the hands of white. That is why it is impossible for them to accept that white can be kinder to them. Giving money to Carver symbolically shows Julian’s Mother’s belief that blacks are still dependent on whites.

Carver’s Mother gets angry at Julian’s Mother so as to show her independence. She has been fueled by the anger and frustration of centuries and promises of the civil rights movement.

Tone

The tone of the short story “Everything That Rises Must Converge” is claustrophobic and foreboding. The foreboding tone of the short story is shown through the description of the place where Julian and his mother is living:

“The sky was a dying violet, and the houses stood out darkly against it, bulbous liver-colored monstrosities of a uniform ugliness.”

From the beginning of the story, the readers have a feeling that something bad is going to happen. For example, when Julian and his mother wait for the bus, there is “frustration of having to wait on the bus as well as ride on it began to creep up his neck like a hot hand.” Julian appears to be like a volcano waiting for a moment to explode.

The story shows a high level of claustrophobia as they are entrapped in the bus, for example, “Meanwhile, Carver’s Mother was bearing down upon the empty seat next to Julian. To his annoyance, she squeezed herself into it.” The passengers get on the bus and are unable to get out.

Genre

The genre of the short story “Everything That Rises Must Converge” belongs to the Southern Gothic genre. The story was about the southern part of America when the desegregation and integration laws were passed.

Gothic literature has been dated back to the 18th century when Romantics were dealing with supernatural and grotesque elements such as tyrants, castles, and captivity in their literary works.

In the twentieth century, American writers such as William Faulkner and Flannery O’Connor deal with similar elements in their literary works. However, instead of castles, tyranny, and captivity, they mention the decaying mansion, oppressive families, and slavery, respectively.

The gothic elements are not very vivid in the short story. The story takes place on a bus. However, the sensory details and adjectives in the opening scene of the story hint the readers of horror and gothic. For example, at the beginning of the story, the narrator says:

“The sky was a dying violet, and the houses stood out darkly against it, bulbous liver-colored monstrosities of a uniform ugliness.”

Title

Moreover, the driving force in the story is Julian’s Mother, who is trying to keep her blood pressure normal. All the main four characters converge on the bus. When the story is ending, they rise to board off from the bus at the same stop. The final encounter between the four main characters of the story can be seen as a sort of convergence. The fist of Carver’s Mother converges with some part of Julian’s Mother.

At the end of the story, the blood pressure of Julian’s Mother rises that causes a stroke. Julian considers this stroke as a harmless lesson; however, it is not actually harmless at all. To teach anyone a lesson, there is no peaceful way if their entire identity is wrapped up in an outdated truth.

At the end of the story, Julian’s Mother asserts that black people should rise but at their own side of the fence. She believes in “equal but separate” doctrine. The whole idea undercut by the story is African-American are rapidly rising, and they will rise to the extent that they will leap on their own fence and “converge” with white.

The convergence is already going on in the story. All the characters first converge on the bus, and there is no difference between whites and blacks. As they have the same taste in dressing, hats, and even have the same attitude.

Setting

The short story “Everything That Rises Must Converge” is set in the South during the 1960s. The dialect of the story is clearly showing the setting of the story. At the very beginning of the story, the tension in the story is shown when Julian’s Mother says that she “would not ride the buses by herself at night since they had been integrated.”

The main action of the story takes place in Bus Blues. This setting is chosen because of the ongoing “movement.” As the bus has wheels and it shows movement, “the ongoing civil rights movement is symbolically represented by the movement of the bus. The passengers are moving ahead with the civil rights movement and integration.

Writing Style

The writing style of the short story “Everything That Rises Must Converge” is hyperbolic. As the story is narrated from the point of view of Julian, he is a drama queen, and this hyperbolic description of the text makes some sense. For example, when Carver’s Motherboards on the bus, she is described as “encased in a green crepe dress and her feet overflowed in red shoes.”

Describing the body of Carver’s Mother in this way makes her appear to be volatile, giant, and dangerous.

Moreover, the narrator also writes that Julian’s “eyes narrowed, and through the indignation, he had generated, and he saw his mother across the aisle, purple-faced, shrunken to the dwarf-like proportions of her moral nature, sitting like a mummy beneath the ridiculous banner of her hat.”

The view of Julian is also distorted. The readers are made to doubt that her face is purple, and he thinks of her as a literal monster. However, Julian does not appear to be immune to such monstrous characterization, such as “The woman with the protruding teeth was looking at him avidly as if he were a type of monster new to her.”

Narrator Point of View

The story “Everything That Rises Must Converge” is narrated in the third person subjective point of view. The narrator of the story is involved in the story. Through dialogues and actions, the character’s thoughts and feelings are evident, and these are future clarified by the omniscience narrator.

The narrator is limited omniscient as he is mainly inside the head of Julian. The inner thoughts and feelings of the character make the readers analyze his character and his views about his mother.

Even though the story is told mainly from the point of view of Julian, he is also present everywhere. Julian appears to be aware of his own faults when he criticizes his mother, neighborhood, society, and the passengers on the bus. At these points, the narrator points out the thing he tries to ignore.

According to Julian, those who do not have any biased views are not afraid of the fact that is why his mother cannot dominate him.

Everything That Rises Must Converge