Everything That Rises Must Converge

In Flannery O’Conner’s “Everything That Rises Must Converge” the theme of old southern tradition as he reason for the death of Julian’s mother. These old tradition of race relation between blacks and whites still remains with older generation and Julian’s mother was no exception. This large woman lived her life the same way she did 50 years ago when she was a very prominent member in her town. It doesn’t mention what happened to Julian’s family but the mother makes several references to the prior grander of her family, like “ your grandfather was a former governor” and “ your grandmother was a godhigh” (395). This mother considered her self to be a southern lady who took grate pride in her appearance, and was always polite to everyone black or white.
The problem with Julian’s mother is that she is an extreme optimist, and tends to patronize black people. For example she gives a penny to a young black boy and gets punched by the boys mother. This event shocks the mother and causes her to faint or die the reader isn’t sure. On the other hand Julian is part of the next generation and sees the world as it is in the present. They live in a neighborhood that was once nice but now has fallen apart and he is unemployed after attending college. While Julian tries to be nice to his mother he resents her attitude and the comments she makes like “ what fun to look back on the hard times” (397) really angers him but he feels he cant do anything because she does it in such a saccharine manner.