摘 要

《凡上升的必然汇合》是美国著名的南方作家弗兰纳里·奥康纳的短篇小说，通过描写朱利安母子的一趟出行，展现了朱利安的困境，侧面反映了内战结束后，尤其是平等但独立的政策废除后，美国南方的社会状况。本文通过总结朱利安的困境和探究困境的原因，反思《凡上升的必然汇合》中所反映的南方的进步白人青年的复杂心理。

本文包含五个部分。第一部分，导论介绍小说和作者，该小说国内外的研究状况；第二部分总结了朱利安的困境：对于母亲的复杂感情和最后的无法挽回；怀有种族平等观念，但是在现实中却没有实现，无法与黑人正常交往；以及即使声称种族平等，但内心仍然向往富庶的过去。第三部分，探究朱利安面临困境的原因：家庭方面，受到母亲以及家族本身的传统的影响；社会方面，当时的社会仍然是充满割裂与矛盾，社会条件的限制也让朱利安怀有真正的平等观念。第四部分，从朱利安的困境出发来进行反思：朱利安与母亲之间的对立折射了南方新旧两代白人的社会矛盾；朱利安的种族平等观念的不足之处；朱利安身上的进步意义，包括将平等观念落实于行动，更易于接受现实。第五部分是总结。

关键词：困境；反思；种族歧视

Abstract

Everything That Rises Must Converge is a short story by famous American southern writer Flannery. O 'Connor. It describes a journey between the mother and son which shows the plight of Julian, and the social conditions in the southern United States after the civil war, especially after the abolition of “separate but equal”guideline. By summarizing Julian's plight and exploring the causes of the plight, this paper reflects the complex psychology of the southern progressive white youth in Everything That Rises Must Converge.

This paper consists of five parts. The first part introduces the novel and the author and the research at home and abroad. The second part sums up Julian's plight: his complex feelings for his mother and the consequence he brings; Although he harbours racial equality, he can not realize it and he can not interact with the black people; Even if he professes racial equality, he still longs for the rich past. The third part explores the causes of Julian's plight: as for the family, he is influenced by the tradition of the the family and his mother; the society was still full of fragmentation and contradiction, and the restriction of social conditions hinders Julian to have a real sense of equality. The fourth part starts from the reflection of Julian's plight : Conflict between Julian and his mother is the embodiment of the social contradictions; the deficiencies of Julian's racial equality; the progressive parts of Julian, such as putting the equal thoughts into action, accepting the reality. The fifth part is the summary.

Keywords: plight, reflection, racialism

Contents

1. Introduction 1

1.1 Introduction of the writer and the novel 1

1.2 Literature review 2

2. The plight of Julian 3

2.1 Complex feelings to his mother 3

2.2 Julian’s ideals vs Cruel reality 4

2.3 The past vs The present 5

3. The analysis of Julian’s plight 7

3.1 Family background 7

3.2 Social background 7

4. The reflection on Julian’s plight 9

4.1 The social conflict between old and new generations of Southern whites 9

4.2 Julian’s imperfect equal opinions 9

4.3 The progressive parts of Julian: a New Southern generation 10

5. Conclusion 12

References 13

Acknowledgements 14

Julian’s Plight: A Tentative Study of Everything That Rises Must Converge

Introduction

1.1 Introduction of the writer and the novel

Born on March 25, 1925, in Savannah, Georgia, Flannery O'Connor was an excellent Southern writer. As for her personal life, she lost her father when she was a teenager. Then she studied writing at the University of Iowa and published her first short story, “The Geranium”, in 1946. After graduating from the college, Flannery O'Connor decided to continue writing as her career. For her work, she received many prizes, such as an O. Henry Award in 1957 and the National Book Award in 1972. She died of lupus in 1964 after fighting against it for more than 10 years.

Flannery O'Connor is considered as one of the best short story authors of the 20th century (Brinkmeyer, Robert, 1989) Her work is deeply affected by her experiences of growing up in a Catholic family in the South. Therefore, her work are in sardonic Southern Gothic style and relies heavily on regional settings and imaginary grotesque characters.(Gentry, Marshall, 1986) Her writing reflects her Roman Catholic faith and frequently examines questions of morality and ethics(Su, 2010). She writes novels, but is best known for her short story collections. Her notable works include Wise Blood, The Violent Bear It Away, A Good Man Is Hard to Find.

Written in 1961, Everything That Rises Must Converge, which is a headlining story in the collection published in 1965, helps Flannery O'Connor win the O'Henry Award in 1963. It is the story between Julian and his mother. Julian Chestny accompanies his mother who hates racial equality in the public buses to an exercise class. On the way, Julian tries different ways to teach his mother a lesson, but he fails. Mrs. Chestny begins a conversation with the small child of a black woman whose hat is identical to the hat worn by Mrs. Chestny. The black woman, insulted by Mrs. Chestny's offer of a shiny penny to the child, strikes her with a big purse, knocking her to the ground. Julian, who feels his mother has been taught a good lesson, begins to explain its meaning that is the emergence of blacks in the new South. While he is speaking to his mother, she suffers a stroke. As a result she dies, leaving Julian grief-stricken and running for help.

1.2 Literature Review

The research about this novel at home and abroad is very few. No more than ten papers or journals with reference to different aspects of the novel can be searched. Two foreign research is about traumatic recurrences and characters. Traumatic Recurrences in White Southern Literature: O'Connor's “Everything that Rises must Converge” and Welty's “Clytie”(Williamson, Jenn, 2009) analyses recurring cultural wounds revealed in white Southern literature. A reading of Flannery O’Connor’s “Everything that Rises Must Converge” (Zadeh, Mohammad Reza Modarres, 2013) points out the complex characteristics of the main characters, Julian and his mother. The domestic research is about different points of view, such as the role of the image, racial attitudes, the odd characters. Jia Ting, in her paper, The image analysis in O'Connor's novel Everything that Rises must Converge, analyses the meanings behind the daily things, space scene and the Bible prototype (Jia, 2017). In Racial Attitudes in Everything that Rises must Converge, Gui Yuanyuan points out the unique racial attitudes in southern society (Gui, 2016). Fu Jingchuan, in The weird soul writer of the southern bible belt: O'Connor and her novels discusses those typical odd characters (Fu, 2000). What’s more, there is a periodical, Julian’s Confusion by Wang Qian, analyses the bewilderment of Julian(Wang, 2017). The author describes Julian’s confusion and attributes his confusion to Julian’s identity and social background. But the analysis of the reasons can go further and she doesn’t fully summarize the plight. Therefore, there is still plenty of room for this research.

This paper analyses Julian’s complex feelings to his mother. Although the ironically critical attitude is very obvious, there are some details which indicate Julian’s hidden love for her mother. Moreover, Julian’s deceptive equal opinions has always been criticized, but they still have some positive effects which need to be analyzed. The racial discrimination among the young generation of white is disappearing. Even though their equal thoughts is limited by the social backgrounds, they can easily face the reality and adapt to the new society, which is very important for the realization of racial equality.

The plight of Julian

2.1 Complex feelings to his mother

The story focuses more on the dialogues and the psychology of Julian which enables the readers to become increasingly aware of the pathetic situation of Julian.

On the one hand, Julian has self-pity and ironically critical attitude towards his mother.

There are many detailed description about what his poor mother suffers in order to rear him to his present status. “What she meant when she said she had won was that she had brought him up successfully and had sent him to college and that he had turned out so well-good looking (her teeth had gone unfilled so that his could be straightened), intelligent (he realized he was too intelligent to be a success), and with a future ahead of him (there was of course no future ahead of him).”(O’Connor, 1965). One can imagine the plight of an alone woman who cannot afford to fill both her own teeth and her son’s and who wants to provide him with college education; What she does is not small sacrifice. The hat helps her to maintain some of that ancestral dignity which she deems innate in her nature( Jia, 2017), she can give it up just because “I can pay the gas bill with that seven-fifty.”(O’Connor, 1965). Her love for Julian really impresses the readers. She may not be the perfect mother, but she tries her best to take care of her son.

However, Julian has nothing but contempt for his mother, whom he believes has foolish, outdated manners and evades from the realities of the changing world (Zadeh, Mohammad, 2013). Julian does not deny that he goes to college and that his teeth are filled, but he thinks his excellence attributes to his own effort “In spite of going to only a third-rate college, he had, on his own initiative, come out with a first- rate education; in spite of growing up dominated by a small mind, he had ended up with a large one; in spite of all her foolish views, he was free of prejudice and unafraid to face facts” (O’Connor, 1965). He is even proud of cutting himself emotionally free of her and could see her with complete objectivity. The truth is he is not object: His mother’s sacrifice is not appreciated by him, instead, he dislikes his mother. He thinks her hat is hideous. He tries different ways to irritates or humiliates her, such as sitting besides a black man. Even when his mother is knocked down, he says “You got exactly what you deserved” (O’Connor, 1965). Julian’s indifference to his mother is revealed relentlessly.