Flannery O’Connor Essay -- Biography Biographies Essays

Flannery OConnorMary Flannery OConnor was born in 1925 in Savannah, Georgia. She was an only child, and her p arents were deeply religious Roman Catholics. She was educated at the Womens College of Georgia and the State University of Iowa. While she was at college, she wrote short stories which were published. During this time her father died of lupus, a blood disease that would eventually claim her life as well. After she was diagnosed, she moved to Milledgville, Georgia, for treatment of the disease. She continued writing and published dickens novels, Wise Blood and The Violent Bear it Away, as well as two collections of short stories, A Good Man is Hard to Find and Everything That Rises Must Converge. She died from Lupus in 1964 (Charters, 1079).The short story Everything That Rises Must Converge centers on the relationship among Julian, a young man who has recently graduated from college, and his mother. It takes place in a city in the South soon after integration. Much like E mily Grierson in William Faulkners A Rose for Emily, Julians mother is a product of the Old South. She takes tremendous pride in her heritage referable to the fact that her ancestors were people who were once very highly respected. Her grandfather was a former state governor as well as a orchard and slave owner. Julian sees his mother as a dinosaur who is a product of the past and cannot see and accept the realities of the present. The fact that she clings to her old values embarrasses him, and he sees her more(prenominal) as a child who does not know any better.The plot of the story revolves around a bus trip that Julian and his mother take. one time a week, Julians mother goes to the local Y for her reducing class. Julian accompanies her on the bu... ...involving the confrontation between the mother and her son, Julian seizes the opportunity to torment his mother so she can see how ignorant she is and how he has elevated himself to a status higher than hers. Tragically, this incident leads to his mothers stroke. It is only at this moment of his mothers helplessness that all three worlds collide together. Julians world of self-righteousness and his mothers world of self-importance are shattered by the world of reality. Only then is truth apparent to all of the characters in the story.Works CitedCharters, Ann. The Story and Its Writer An Introduction to Short Fiction. fifth ed. Boston Bedford/ St. Martins, 1999.OConnor, Flannery. Everything That Rises Must Converge. The Story and Its Writer An Introduction to Short Fiction. Ed. Ann Charters. 5th ed. Boston Bedford/ St. Martins, 1999. 1080-1091.