Content Category
Literary Criticism
Abstract/Description
Michael L. Schroeder fastidiously argues that because O’Connor’s “Everything that Rises Must Converge” focuses on the dynamics of a relationship between a self-righteous white liberal and his “racist but not malicious” mother, it is a political parable reflecting O’Connor’s beliefs about the shared racial responsibility of the civil rights movement (Schroeder 45). However, he neglects the story’s important religious underpinnings, therefore failing to grasp O’Connor’s underlying attitude about the issues of desegregation and civil rights, and also the necessary juxtaposition between Christian values with racial tolerance. Through characterization and imagery, O’Connor shows that the ideals of racial equality and individual dignity converge in both religious and political imperatives. We get a clearer view of O’Connor’s assertions concerning how the civil rights movement should be resolved if we view this story as an allegory of the melding of church and state instead of a mere topical commentary about 1960s racial contentions.
Copyright and Licensing of My Content
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Location
3082 JFSB
Start Date
19-3-2015 1:15 PM
End Date
19-3-2015 2:45 PM
Included in
Politics and Theology of Flannery O’Connor: How They Coincide in “Everything That Rises Must Converge”
3082 JFSB
Michael L. Schroeder fastidiously argues that because O’Connor’s “Everything that Rises Must Converge” focuses on the dynamics of a relationship between a self-righteous white liberal and his “racist but not malicious” mother, it is a political parable reflecting O’Connor’s beliefs about the shared racial responsibility of the civil rights movement (Schroeder 45). However, he neglects the story’s important religious underpinnings, therefore failing to grasp O’Connor’s underlying attitude about the issues of desegregation and civil rights, and also the necessary juxtaposition between Christian values with racial tolerance. Through characterization and imagery, O’Connor shows that the ideals of racial equality and individual dignity converge in both religious and political imperatives. We get a clearer view of O’Connor’s assertions concerning how the civil rights movement should be resolved if we view this story as an allegory of the melding of church and state instead of a mere topical commentary about 1960s racial contentions.