Flannery O’Connor: The Southern Catholic Essay

In the short story, "Everything That Rises Must Converge," Flannery O'Connor writes about a man taking his mother on the bus to a weight-reducing class. The man, Julian, is an only child whose father is dead. Although O'Connor does not reveal Julian's exact age, she makes it clear that he has been an adult for some time. The mother, who struggled to raise Julian in his younger years, is still supporting him. The story goes into detail about the emotional relationship this man has with his mother and how it leaves him emotionally stunted and depressed. Flannery O'Connor has chosen to make the main characters mother and son to show that a boy who cannot manage to become an independent adult man, that is, one who remains an immature,

Moore, Julie. “Julian’s Problem in Flannery O’Connor’s Everything That Rises Must Converge.” 11 Mar. 2008. Web. 06 May 2012.

The short story "Greenleaf" shows us some of the central themes of Flannery O'Connor's literary work.

Flannery O’Connor believed in the power of religion to give new purpose to life. She saw the fall of the old world, felt the force and presence of God, and her allegorical fictions often portray characters who discover themselves transforming to the Catholic mind. Though her literature does not preach, she uses subtle, thematic undertones and it is apparent that as her characters struggle through violence and pain, divine grace is thrown at them. In her story “Revelation,” the protagonist, Mrs. Turpin, acts sanctimoniously, but ironically the virtue that gives her eminence is what brings about her downfall. Mrs. Turpin’s veneer of so called good behavior fails to fill the void that would bring her to heaven. Grace hits her with force and

Flannery O’Connor, undoubtedly one of the most well-read authors of the early 20th Century, had many strong themes deeply embedded within all her writings. Two of her most prominent and poignant themes were Christianity and racism. By analyzing, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” and “Everything that Rises Must Converge,” these two themes jump out at the reader. Growing up in the mid-1920’s in Georgia was a huge influence on O’Connor. Less than a decade before her birth, Georgia was much different than it was at her birth. Slaves labored tirelessly on their master’s plantations and were indeed a facet of everyday life. However, as the Civil War ended and Reconstruction began, slaves were not easily assimilated into Southern culture. Thus, O’Connor grew up in a highly racist area that mourned the fact that slaves were now to be treated as “equals.” In her everyday life in Georgia, O’Connor encountered countless citizens who were not shy in expressing their discontent toward the black race. This indeed was a guiding influence and inspiration in her fiction writing. The other guiding influence in her life that became a major theme in her writing was religion. Flannery O 'Connor was born in Savannah, Georgia, the only child of a Catholic family. The region was part of the 'Christ-haunted ' Bible belt of the Southern States. The spiritual heritage of the region profoundly shaped O 'Connor 's writing as described in her essay "The Catholic Novelist in the Protestant South" (1969). Many

The selected short stories from Flannery O’Connor: The Complete Stories and Stories of the Modern South invite many types of criticism all of which require close reading which is essential for student learning. Combining stories selected from these two books with Reader Response criticism is an excellent way to introduce students to the art of literary criticism. Reader Response criticism provides students with the opportunity to combine reading for pleasure and reading with a purpose and the short stories written by William Faulkner, Caroline Gibson, Carson McCullers, and Eudora Welty contain themes of the gothic and grotesque which grab the reader and hold them spellbound until the end of the story, but somehow leave them wanting more.

Flannery O’Connor, known for her original Southern Gothic style of prose has been titled “the master of the short story” (O’Connor). Her application of symbolism and the themes of Southern religion deem her as one of the most influential writers in American history. Born in Savannah, Georgia in 1925 and raised in the South, O’Connor was socialized as a member of the Catholic Church which proves evident throughout her writings. She studied journalism at the University of Iowa, but quickly migrated back to the South where she wrote most of her works: two novels, 32 short stories, and a number of commentaries and reviews. When diagnosed with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, the same illness that killed her father when she was young, she

O’Connor’s stories tend to deal with the issues of so-called “Christians” and their inability to live the life they portray, much like her short story Good Country People. The detail and symbolism that Flannery O’Connor places in her stories have a definitive meaning and can be sought out to have some type of underlying connotation. Many of her motifs are religiosity and immorality. She has a way of showing her readers that not everyone is cracked up to who they portray themselves as. The way that Flannery depicts her feelings of society through her writing is very unusual. She has a way of bringing out the worst in her characters in such a dark manner. These decisions make her writing style genre unique because there are not many authors who are willing to do so.

Flannery O’Connor is a Georgian writer that is mainly known for her short writings about southern life and religion. She (uses local color in her writings that make her style unique during that time) wrote many short stories which in everyone of them she made perfectly her point across. Most of her stories included a religious theme because she was Catholic, and she wanted to express her spiritual thoughts on her writings. One of her famous story “Everything That Rises Must Converge”, O’Connor illustrates perfectly the ways of living in the rural south and the how social integration changed everything. During this story, one character during does not change until the end of the story, which is typical on O’Connor writings. O’Connor is a type of writer that who inlikes to add a surprising ending. In addition, another story called “The Displaced Person”, she uses the same technique to express that part of the south were she was born. O’Connor is very good at using local color since she knows exactly how people acted, thought, and talked because she was raised in the south. There are common motifs among O’Connor’s stories. For example, she uses the sky as a sign of God calling someone, and racism plays an important part of her stories since the time she is writing is when blacks and whites got integrated.. O’Connor style of writing is common in her stories.

Flannery O 'Connor 's short story "Everything that Rises Must Converge" finds the change in structure between a mother and an adolescent in the midst of a period in history when white quality was to an incredible degree, going to pieces. To scratch-off being completely separate from generations, the idea of discrimination divides the more youthful eras from those of the more seasoned eras. In this connection, O 'Connor offers us what is fundamentally a methodology of age in the story. Julian, who sees himself as "socialized" must depict himself by a standard other than the one he has been understanding the value, total, or nature of himself against that of his mother. Mrs. Chestny 's stroke, which may in itself be much the same as an issue level identity or phrenic vehicle, comes as an issue energized or up and about state than in the recent past, to her, and to Julian. It makes him comprehend that he can never again be subject for his mother based cash or as some single individual to weigh against himself, anticipating that it would be an advantage and horrendous. O 'Connor shows this dumbfounded familial relationship wonderfully all throughout the story by executing a few surprising and bizarre looking machines: the third individual urged storyteller, unforeseen, odd reality, captivating copy, typical setting, and placing pictures into your psyche. Julian and his mother had an extraordinarily

In Flannery O’Connor’s short story “Everything That Rises Must Converge”, one hears the story of Julian and his mother as they take a short bus ride downtown. Narrated by Julian, the reader sees the story unfold from his perspective. We see Julian portrayed in a very positive light, while his mother is not described as kindly. However, upon further examination one can easily see that Julian’s perspective is skewed. Julian is clearly not the saint he believes himself to be and his mother is not as terrible as Julian thinks her to be.

The percentage of people who say they believe in God, pray, frequently go to religious services, embrace minimal religious practices or find their faith meaningful has declined over the last 50 years. A growing group of Americans do not believe in God or any organized faith. In fact, unbelief is even fashionable. Religious conviction is perceived as burdensome or an outdated attitude - easily discarded. This is the backdrop upon which 20th century American, Southern Gothic writer, Flannery O’Connor, wrote her books and short stories in the 1950s and 1960s. She, in her short stories and books of fiction, did not describe beautiful rooms or people living happily ever after; she wrote about the human condition in the American South and the state of religious conviction. She wrote about unbelievers, lukewarm souls, narcissists and the spiritually illiterate. She wrote about racists, white trash, busy bodies and poor, beaten down black folks. She wrote about the unraveling of faith where the default mode for her characters was apathy, smugness, desapir or indifference. She believed the South was haunted by religion but as a group were literally swimming in mediocrity, cynicism and emptiness – a rough and tumble nihilism. They might say their faith mattered or attended services, but many were just lying to their neighbors and themselves. To her, they were just checking the box with a faith bordering on tepid and pathetic. She felt, given their current status, they would not know a

However, the mother’s attention to the child is not the key to a successful relationship in the family and this is the main idea the story of Flannery O’Connor. “Everything That Rises Must Converge”, tells about the consequences of excessive concern about the children. The main characters of this story are Julian and his mother. Despite the fact that Julian is a mature young man who graduated from college, he continues to live with his mother. However, he does not feel gratitude for what his mother does for him.

b. Thesis: Through Mary Grace’s name, the portrayal of God in her eyes, and actions, O’Connor illustrates her belief that one must strip away their false persona in order to become a genuine Christian person.

In "Everything that Rises Must Converge", a mother who was brought up with different morals that do not apply to the way the world is in their present, dies due to various causes. O'Connor meant the mother's death to act as a lesson for Julian who as close minded as his mother was, must learn to converge or end up like his mother who was killed due to the physical engagement with the black lady as well as their unhealthy relationship.