everything that changes must converge
Reading Response of the Title of “Everything That Rises Must Converge”
The title of “Everything That Rises Must Converge” is really interesting. At first glance it is a strange and complicated meaning. After reading the full text you can break down the title to full understanding the story and the meaning of the title. We are introduced to Julian’s mother, a women who is over weight and must loose twenty pounds and who is taking a reducing class. The reason she is doing this is because she has high blood pleasure. She must keep her blood pressure low, which is another way to say it can’t rise. Of course we find out nothing is for nothing, and her blood pressure does rise, and she ends up having a stroke. I see this as a consequence. The whole attack was a consequence of how Julian’s mother’s racism is so bad and brutal. Julian thinks of the attack as a harmless lesson learned, but in fact it’s not harmless at all. Julian’s mother says that blacks “should rise, yes, but on their own side of fence”(653). Julian’s mother was raised around racism with her grandfather being a slave owner. Julian’s mother believes in “separate but equal”. The title simply undercuts the whole idea. The fact is that African-Americans are rising and they are going to converge with the whites. The converging is taking place while on the bus. All the characters in the story are together on this bus, and what is surprising is that the blacks and whites are alike more than they thought. The black woman who attacks Julian’s mother is exactly like her. She shares the same thoughts and ironically the same hideous hat as the mother. Both mothers, black and white, share the same beliefs and want what’s best for their sons. At the end of the story, all four of the main characters rise to get off at the same spot. The final encounter of the story could be seen as a type of convergence, the black woman’s fist converges with Julian’s mother. As I did my research about the book I
The title of “Everything That Rises Must Converge” is really interesting. At first glance it is a strange and complicated meaning. After reading the full text you can break down the title to full understanding the story and the meaning of the title. We are introduced to Julian’s mother, a women who is over weight and must loose twenty pounds and who is taking a reducing class. The reason she is doing this is because she has high blood pleasure. She must keep her blood pressure low, which is another way to say it can’t rise. Of course we find out nothing is for nothing, and her blood pressure does rise, and she ends up having a stroke. I see this as a consequence. The whole attack was a consequence of how Julian’s mother’s racism is so bad and brutal. Julian thinks of the attack as a harmless lesson learned, but in fact it’s not harmless at all. Julian’s mother says that blacks “should rise, yes, but on their own side of fence”(653). Julian’s mother was raised around racism with her grandfather being a slave owner. Julian’s mother believes in “separate but equal”. The title simply undercuts the whole idea. The fact is that African-Americans are rising and they are going to converge with the whites. The converging is taking place while on the bus. All the characters in the story are together on this bus, and what is surprising is that the blacks and whites are alike more than they thought. The black woman who attacks Julian’s mother is exactly like her. She shares the same thoughts and ironically the same hideous hat as the mother. Both mothers, black and white, share the same beliefs and want what’s best for their sons. At the end of the story, all four of the main characters rise to get off at the same spot. The final encounter of the story could be seen as a type of convergence, the black woman’s fist converges with Julian’s mother. As I did my research about the book I