Everything That Rises Must Converge | Essays and Criticism

  • O'Connor's Religious Vision

    In the following essay, the author discusses how O’Connor’s religious vision shapes the seemingly secular content of ‘‘Everything That Rises Must Converge.’’

  • Miss O’Connor and Mrs. Mitchell: The Example of Everything That Rises

    Petry’s discussion in this essay centers on the echoes of Margaret Mitchell’s novel Gone with the Wind that she perceives in ‘‘Everything That Rises Must Converge’’ and the resonance these echoes add to the reader’s understanding of the story.

  • O’Connor’s "Everything That Rises Must Converge"

    O’Connor’s use of the YWCA as the destination of Julian’s mother is Petry’s focus in this article, in which the critic shows how ‘‘the Y serves as a gauge of the degeneration of the mother’s Old South family and, concomitantly, of the breakdown of old, church-related values in the United States of the mid-twentieth century.’’

  • The Penny and the Nickel in "Everything That Rises Must Converge"

    In the following essay, Ower comments on the significance of the penny that Julian’s mother gives the young black boy and the nickel she would ordinarily have given, arguing that ‘‘the designs of these pieces suggest a nexus of meanings relating to the social, racial and religious themes’’ of the story.

  • The Character of Julian in Detail

    In the following essay, Montgomery examines the character of Julian in detail, finding the ‘‘convergence’’ of the title in Julian’s confrontation with himself, when he realizes that he has ‘‘destroyed that which he loved through his blindness.’’

  • Julian's Experience of Convergence

    In the essay below, Maida discusses Julian’s experience of convergence, comparing and contrasting O’Connor’s use of the concept with Teilhard de Chardin’s philosophy.