Analysis Of Flannery O Connor's Everything That Rises Must Converge

A common theme in the works of Flannery O’Connor, is that certain individuals of the older generation envision themselves to be higher and mightier than the social class in which they truly fall into.They are often characterized as being resistant to move on from the past, and are bitter towards the civil rights movement, where many of her stories take place. Despite O’Connor’s conception that this older generation is typically more closed-minded, the younger generation’s lack of respect towards the older generation, is the true problem of society. This is most evident in the short story, “Everything That Rises Must Converge”, in which the narrator, Julian, disregards the sacrifices that his mother has made for him, rather than appreciating
She is a working mother, which is unthinkable during this era, considering that she is from old money. She has gone without fillings in her teeth, so that he could have straight teeth, and she has sent him to college; something that a single mother generally can not do, which is a huge success on her part. Although life has taken some negative turns, such as the death of her husband, she thinks of herself as a winner because she has been able to single-handedly provide a promising future for her child. It is evident that Julian is aware of his mother’s sacrifices when it is addressed that he “... did not like to consider all she did for him” (O’Connor, 1965, p, 909). Rather than being appreciative, he attempts to find flaws in her decisions, and scrutinizes her every action. He claims that she made “... a mess of things” (O’Connor, 1965, p. 913), and spends most of his time discriminating her life, although he claims that it would be easier to find faults within her if she had been a violent alcoholic. This unthankful characteristic is a widespread phenomenon in the new generation. Many young adults overlook the great sacrifices and obstacles that their elders have overcome in order to provide a better life for them. Rather than being acknowledged, the majority of these selfless acts go unnoticed everyday. This is tragic, because compassion should not become an endangered
Thus, the true problem in society is that the older generation is immensely underappreciated. Although they may have outdated ideals, or different values than today’s younger generation, their sacrifices and great contributions to the world should not pass by, unnoticed. This young generation tends to be very egocentric, and therefore, a majority of respect towards authority has diminished. A prime example of this behavior are the numerous riots taking place across America. If young and old generations can never see eye to eye, disrespect will only become stronger with each new