Deconstructionism

Everything That Rises Must Converge

By: Flannery O' Connor

Synopsis:

The story begins with an account of Julian’s mother’s health: she has been directed by her doctor to lose weight, so she has started attending a “reducing class” at the Y. Because she is wary of black people (and since the bus system has just been integrated), she insists that Julian accompany her on the bus each Wednesday night. This evening, Julian waits for her to get ready as she puts on her new hat, which is hideous and green.As they walk to the bus stop, Julian stews about how much he resents his mother. She makes things worse by insisting on discussing the integration of black people, a topic about which she and Julian have differing viewpoints. He is not racist and cannot stand talking about the subject with her. She begins to reminisce about the old mansion where she used to visit her grandfather as a little girl, and about the slaves he kept. Julian pretends to hate the place, but he has dreams about it and wishes that he had been able to experience the house for which his mother is so nostalgic.

They board the bus, and noticing that there are no black people aboard, his mother says aloud, “I see we have the bus to ourselves.” She makes small talk about Julian and how he has finished college with the woman who is sitting across the aisle. Julian thinks about how she has struggled to bring him up properly and give him all that he needed; instead of feeling love and thankfulness, he resents her for trying to live up to their blue-blood family standards. He is proud of himself for having not been too influenced by her ignorance and racism.

A black man boards the bus, and Julian’s mother (like the other white women on the bus) becomes visibly uncomfortable. In order to make his mother even more upset, Julian asks the black man if he has a light before realizing that he doesn’t even have any cigarettes to smoke. He daydreams about the old mansion where his grandfather used to live, then starts thinking up ways to make his mother uncomfortable, including bringing home a black woman as his girlfriend.

Soon, a tough-looking black woman and her son get on the bus. Her son, whose name turns out to be Carver, sits on the seat next to Julian’s mother. Julian is disappointed because his mother’s racism does not extend to children. The black mother sits down next to Julian, and he realizes that she is wearing the exact same hideous hat as his mother. He hopes it will teach his mother a lesson, but instead she seems to find it amusing, and compliments the woman’s son using “the smile she used when she was being particularly gracious to an inferior.”

Both pairs of mothers and son get off the bus at the next stop, and Julian predicts that his mother is going to give Carver a nickel. He is horrified at the idea, because it would be so insulting; but he was right, and she tells him her intention. He hisses at her not to do it, but she ignores him and calls after Carver to come back (his mother has been dragging him away down the street). When Julian’s mother holds out the coin for him, Carver’s mother knocks her onto the sidewalk and runs away with her son. Julian’s first reaction is annoyance, and he tells his mother, “You got exactly what you deserved. Now get up.”

When she does get up off the sidewalk, she sets off in the direction of home instead of going to the Y. As she walks along, paying no attention to him, he continues to scold her. She is walking quickly and won’t stop when he demands that they take the bus home. When Julian grabs his arm, her face is unrecognizable and she says, “Tell Grandpa to come get me.” She has had a stroke, and Julian is horrified when he realizes it. He immediately changes his attitude toward her, crying, “Mamma, Mamma!” and running down the street to get help. But it is too late, and his “entry into the world of guilt and sorrow” is impending.

Criticism: 

This story clearly shows more contradictions as well as multiple views of each character. Julian's mother is racist by nature; she (her mother) has an inferior look upon the black people and was wary of them. In which Julian resents to, although they are in the same family. He doesn't treat the blacks with discriminating looks. Julian also kept his feeling of dreaming to the house of his grandfather where her mother was nostalgic, he pretends that he doesn't like the place nor interested to it. Julian also wanted to upset her mother by being friends with the black or bringing a black woman to their house. Despite of his mother's struggles just to finish his studies, Julian doesn't felt any love or thankfulness except for the fact that he is thankful because he was not ignorant to be a racist. He strongly opposed his mother and annoyed with her beliefs yet in the end when he noticed that her mother got stroke he felt sorry for what he had said. Some statements and ideas of the characters where different from their first line thus, it is interchangeable. The mood also varies and the unity of character’s ideologies was not present.