"Everything that Rises Must Converge"

"Everything that Rises Must Converge" by Flannnery O'Connor is a very unique short story because much of the story is about the complexities of the characters.  I would guess that the story takes place in the 1960s; a decade which gave way to the civil rights movement and therefore a gap in the mindsets of teenagers and parents concerning the issue.  Julian finds his mother's feelings towards African Americans to be noisome, and when he rides the bus with her he has to block out his surroundings and find a mecca inside his mind where he can finally get away from his mother's pettiness and think about things with more clarity.  However, at the end of the book when his mother collapses, his true feelings show and he is desperate to find someone to help her.  This shows that although he thought that he was being ingenuous with himself at the beginning, he realizes at the end that he really did care about her.

Julian's mother puts up a strong facade and will not show any foibles to anyone, but on the inside she is very insecure.  She says that although there are Blacks on the bus at night, she can be gracious towards them because she knows who she is and she is confident in that.  However, there are moments where she shows weakness.  In the beginning, she is debating over whether or not she should wear a hat that she bought or if she should return it, and she needs the constant approval of Julian to make her feel secure.  Also, she knows that she is biased and would like her soon to respect her, so when she says that, "she knows who she is," she is looking for Julian to agree with her.