by Sebastian Beck-Watt

Created on: March 07, 2008   Last Updated: March 08, 2008

The historic American broadcaster Edward R. Murrow once said "Everyone is a prisoner of his [or her] own experiences. No one can eliminate prejudices just recognize them" (368). Prejudice has taken innumerable forms throughout history, from anti-Semitism to apartheid. It is present in every society in some form, and as Murrow said, cannot be eradicated, only identified. Therefore Murrow's words are equally true for another historic and perpetual injustice in American history: the enslavement, persecution, and ill-treatment of African Americans. This antique prejudice is displayed as a central theme in Flannery O'Connor's Everything That Rises Must Converge. Everything That Rises Must Converge demonstrates how old ideals are perpetuated throughout a culture's history. O'Connor illustrates the continuous racism in American culture through personal, historical, and social prejudice.

Personal prejudice in Everything That Rises Must Converge is illustrated most prominently by Julian's mother. Julian's mother's prejudice is made evident by her fear of integration and her treatment of the young black child. However, Julian also displays personal prejudice in his generalizations about blacks, and his dreams of his ancestral home. Prejudice is often founded in not understanding something or someone. Julian's mother "would not ride the buses by herself since [the blacks] had been integrated" (O'Connor 499). This shows that she thinks that blacks are to be feared. She does not indicate any logical reason to think that they are a danger to her, and therefore her fear comes directly from her prejudice. When she strikes up conversation with the woman across the aisle, she immediately comments that the whites have the bus to themselves, indicating that it is a problem for her when there are blacks on board (O'Connor 503). This shows that despite legal inte!
gration, Julian's mother (and many others) dislike and often fear proximity to blacks. Julian's mother further displays her personal prejudice in her treatment of Carver, the young black child. While Julian's mother indicates that she finds Carver cute, it is her unconscious condescension that illustrates her prejudice. When getting off the bus, she "want[s] to give the little boy a nickel'" (O'Connor 509). To her, this seems innocent, but the act shows how she instinctively believes in her own superiority, being in a position to give charity to blacks. The incident becomes more patronizing when she "can't find but a penny

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• Next Page >>