Flannery O'Connor's Characterization of Julian's Mother in “everything That Rises Must Converge”

Although she is never given a name, Julian's mother plays the most significant role in the story to reveal its present themes. Flannery O'Connor does an excellent job in making Julian's mother a symbol that represents certain themes such as the generation gap between Julian and his mother, the changing roles of blacks and whites in America, and ignorance. "Everything That Rises Must Converge" merely takes place on a bus for the most part, and yet is able to effectively convey all of these profound messages and themes; it really is the profound characterization of Julian's mother that brings substance to the story.

This short piece takes place in the recently desegregated South, where "enlightened" whites are condescending, and blacks resent the efforts of well-meaning whites. Right away, Julian's mother seems to be in her own little world, completely oblivious and ignorant to the changing times and people around her. She sees herself and whites-alike as better people than blacks. Always degrading them and talking down to them, Julian's mother recalls how the black and white relationships used to be in her family. She talks about how her great-grandfather was a former governor of the state and had a plantation and two hundred slaves. One can sense that a lot of pride exists when Julian's mother talks about the past. Julian reminds her that there are no more slaves and that blacks do not want her pity or help.

Her stubbornness and narrow-mindedness keeps her from accepting the truth as she continues to label and see things through old eyes. Julian yells at his mother when she talked about how she tries to be gracious to blacks because she believes she is a good person: "They don't give a damn for your graciousness. Knowing who you are is good for one generation only. You haven't the foggiest idea where you stand now or who you are" (15). It is almost as if she does not want to accept the social changes that have occurred within her lifetime, so she just plays along with the old customs. Julian's generation of civil rights movements causes him to disapprove of his mother's generation of racism. Instead of including his mother in the list of people who deserve love, equality, and tolerance, irony begins working through the story through Julian's intolerance and hypocrisies toward his own mother, somebody much closer and more real than the people he begs his mother to love.

In addition to the generation gap where Julian's views are more present whereas his mother's are somewhere in the past, there exists a theme of black and white roles in America. O'Connor demonstrates the changing roles of blacks and whites in America from the mother's generation to Julian's generation. The most obvious sign of near-equality of the black woman on the bus to Julian's mother is the black woman's hideous but expensive hat that matches Julian's mother's own hat. Julian's mother, however, does not view her as her equal, instead planning a gesture that Julian's mother only registers unconsciously as condescending but consciously thinks is a good deed.

This even further accentuates her ignorance toward blacks (as well as her own life for that matter). Although Julian's mother has the same exact hat as the black woman sitting on the bus with her, she somehow convinces herself that this means nothing at all and begins to degrade the black woman in another way. Also, throughout the story, Julian brings forth how his mother's past does not matter at all and that it all means nothing. All the bigheaded talk about her great-grandfather and other "successful" relatives just shows that she is ignorant