Everything That Rises Must Converge

The characters that converge on the bus in this story come from various walks of life, which is reflected in their dialogue. Following their level of education and illusions of superiority, Julian and his mother speak careful, proper English with a Southern touch. Julian’s mother asks her son, for example, “Why must you deliberately embarrass me?” (187), in a formal and precise Southern dialect, emphasizing her identity as a former Southern belle, a proper woman whose status relied on slavery. Another woman on the bus, on the other hand, speaks more causally. She “[reckons] it might could” get hotter outside, but is sure that her apartment “couldn’t get no hotter” (188). Finally, Carver’s mother’s dialogue also reflects the sound of her speech as she shouts to her son: “You heah me? Come heah!” (193). These instances of dialect add texture and realism to the story, characteristics that also highlight the differences between Julian and his mother’s interior worlds and reality.

O’Connor plays with two conflicts in “Everything That Rises Must Converge.” The first unfolds slowly throughout the story and takes place between Julian and his mother. The two antagonize one another from the moment they leave the house, and the tension between them builds as the story progresses. When Julian sits next to the well-dressed Black man on the bus, it is “as if he had openly declared war on [his mother]” (190). However, their conflict dissolves in the face of the sudden, explosive conflict between Julian’s mother and Carver’s mother. Julian initially reproaches his mother, trying to make sure she learns her lesson, but when he sees that she is experiencing an attack, all animosity vanishes, and he panics as he cries for help.