Flannery O’Connor
Mary Flannery O’Connor was born in 1925 in Savannah, Georgia. She was an only child, and her parents were deeply religious Roman Catholics. She was educated at the Women’s College of Georgia and the State University of Iowa. While she was at college, she wrote short stories which were published. During this time her father died of lupus, a blood disease that would eventually claim her life as well. After she was diagnosed, she moved to Milledgville, Georgia, for treatment of the disease. She continued writing and published two novels, Wise Blood and The Violent Bear it Away, as well as two collections of short stories, A Good Man is Hard to Find and Everything That Rises Must Converge. She died from Lupus in 1964 (Charters, 1079).
The short story "Everything That Rises Must Converge" centers on the relationship between Julian, a young man who has recently graduated from college, and his mother. It takes place in a city in the South soon after integration. Much like Emily Grierson in William Faulkner’s "A Rose for Emily," Julian’s mother is a product of the "Old South." She takes tremendous pride in her heritage due to the fact that her ancestors were people who were once very highly respected. Her grandfather was a former state governor as well as a plantation and slave owner. Julian sees his mother as a dinosaur who is a product of the past and cannot see and accept the realities of the present. The fact that she clings to her old values embarrasses him, and he sees her more as a child who does not know any better.
The plot of the story revolves around a bus trip that Julian and his mother take. Once a week, Julian’s mother goes to the local Y for her "reducing" class. Julian accompanies her on the bu...
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...involving the confrontation between the mother and her son, Julian seizes the opportunity to berate his mother so she can see how ignorant she is and how he has elevated himself to a status higher than hers. Tragically, this incident leads to his mother’s stroke. It is only at this moment of his mother’s helplessness that all three worlds collide together. Julian’s world of self-righteousness and his mother’s world of self-importance are shattered by the world of reality. Only then is truth apparent to all of the characters in the story.
Works Cited
Charters, Ann. The Story and Its Writer An Introduction to Short Fiction. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 1999.
O'Connor, Flannery. "Everything That Rises Must Converge." The Story and Its Writer An Introduction to Short Fiction. Ed. Ann Charters. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 1999. 1080-1091.
...on about his life is blamed on his mother. His hatered for her "gives" him a reason to be a crtical, self-loathing person. Having the ability to tell right from wrong does not assist him in anyway. He is always looking for approval and satisfaction from the one person he accused of being in a "fantasy world". The fantasy world she has lived in for so long is now and were he will spend the rest of his life. Julian is left to fend for himself in a cold world where he is no more prepared to handle than he is a job. Finally we are left to guess whether or not Julian can make it without the one person who annoyed him so much, but stood by his side all of his life.
A trip to any supermarket in Canada will reveal nothing out of ordinary, just the usual of array of fresh and packaged goods displayed in an inviting manner to attract customers. Everything appear familiar and reassuring, right? Think again. A closer microscopic inspection discloses something novel, a fundamental revolution in food technology. The technology is genetic engineering (GE), also known as biotechnology. Blue prints (DNA) of agricultural crops are altered and “spliced” with foreign genes to produce transgenic crops. Foods harvested from these agricultural plants are called, genetically modified (GM). Presently, Canada has no consumer notification; GM foods are being slipped to Canada’s foods without any labels or adequate risk assessments. This essay argues that GM foods should be rigorously and independently tested for safety; and, consumers be given the right to choose or reject GM foods through mandatory labels. What is the need for impartial examination of safety of transgenic foods? And why label them? GM foods are not “substantially equivalent” to conventional foods, genetic engineering of agricultural crops is not a mere extension of traditional plant breeding, and finally, there are human health implications associated with it.
Flannery O’Connor was an American writer born in Savannah, Georgia on March 25, 1925. O’Connor was born to her parents, Regina Cline and Edward F. O’Connor. In 1938 O’Connor and her family moved to Milledgeville where she attended school at Peabody Laboratory School (Merriam-Webster 824). At the young age of fifteen her father Edward passed away of a disease called systematic lupus erythematosus. Although the death of her father hit O’Connor hard she pushed on and began to write.
In 1990, Brenda Koss shot her husband, Michael, while he slept and killed him consequently. Brenda Koss and a number of other witnesses testified about Michael’s ongoing abusive behaviors toward her. The Ohio Supreme Court recognized BWS as a defense in a criminal case. The Koss case is an example of how the law and perception on BWS evolved. In 1981, the state high court had refused to allow the admission of any evidence on BWS, believing that it had not yet been scientifically validated to sufficient extent. However in State v. Koss case, the court found that the professional literature and psychiatric understanding of BWS had very much improved; therefore, the court reversed itself and held that expert testimony on BWS could be admitted in a trial. The Court held that evidence of BWS was admissible through an expert testimony to help prove an element of self-defense —that is, Brenda Koss had a bona fide belief that she was in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm and that her only means of escape was the use of force (Bettman, 2011). This case illustrates how the court changed its opinion and perception on BWS as the public started to understand more about BWS and battered women. Unlike State v. Stewart (1988), BWS was positively used to support battered women’s acts of self-defense. Shortly after the Koss case was decided, the legislature passed a law recognizing and validating BWS; it permits the use of expert testimony in support of the defense.
Flannery O'Connor was born in Savannah, Georgia, the only child of a Catholic family. The region was part of the 'Christ-haunted' Bible belt of the Southern States. The spiritual heritage of the region shaped profoundly O'Connor's writing as described in her essay "The Catholic Novelist in the Protestant South" (1969). O'Connor's father, Edward F. O'Connor, was a realtor owner. He worked later for a construction company and died in 1941. Her mother, Regina L. (Cline) O'Connor, came from a prominent family in the state - her father had been a mayor of Milledgeville for many years.
“Everything that Rises Must Converge” also contains two supposedly superior characters, Julian and his mother. Julian’s mother believes that she is superior because her grandfather was a former governor, a prosperous landowner with two-hundred slaves. She also believes that being white makes her superior to people of other races. She believes that those people should rise, but “on their own side of the fence” (pg. 214). Later in the story she offends a “Negro” woman by her patronizing treatment of the woman’s child. This woman is so upset that she physically attacks Julian’s mother (pg. 221). Julian also sees himself as superior. He feels superior to his mother because he does not see himself as racist. In reality he is as much a racist as his mother, but he shows his racism in a different way, seeking out those who he terms “some of the better types” to befriend (pg.
Charters, Ann. The Story and Its Writer – An Introduction to Short Fiction. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011. Print.
The purpose of this research paper is to prove that criminal law in America has failed to provide a defense that adequately protects women suffering from Battered Women's Syndrome. Battered Women's Syndrome, or BWS, is a very complex psychological problem facing criminal courts today and has caused great debate on whether or not it should even be allowed in the courtroom. Although the syndrome has been given more consideration as a warranted issue by society, those who create our laws and control our courtrooms, have not developed a defense that sufficiently protects these women. United States courtrooms, instead of protecting battered women, have put these women on trial and found them guilty of murder.
...to take it anymore. Julian's mother didn't realize this, she thought she was being "gracious." The stroke Julian's mother receives at the end is a direct result of her failure to adapt to her current setting.
The mother is a selfish and stubborn woman. Raised a certain way and never falters from it. She neglects help, oppresses education and persuades people to be what she wants or she will cut them out of her life completely. Her own morals out-weight every other family member’s wants and choices. Her influence and discipline brought every member of the family’s future to serious-danger to care to her wants. She is everything a good mother isn’t and is blind with her own morals. Her stubbornness towards change and education caused the families state of desperation. The realization shown through the story is the family would be better off without a mother to anchor them down.
Towards the middle of the memoir, the theme is shown through the irony of Jeannette’s mother’s situation as well as Jeannette’s feelings towards
Charters, A. (2011). The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction (8th ed.). Boston: Bedfor/St. Martin's.
Whitt, Margaret. Understanding Flannery O’Connor. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1995. 47-48, 78. Print.
In recent years the Canadian government enforced termination of mandatory retirement. Lifestyles have changed lifespans have increased and experience is essential in today’s world. Statistics show individuals want to continue working after sixty-five and continue to contribute while still able as education has a significant impact on individual’s willingness to retire. Factors such as demographics, lifestyles and the financial market has increased the retirement age in recent years.
Retirement is one of the most important crossroads we face in life. It involves a fundamental change in lifestyle, one that calls for a totally new outlook on how we approach each day. All our lives we have been conditioned to think in terms of saving for our retirement years. Society has created this mystique about this time in our lives when we magically transform into different people with different lives when really we are the same people with different day to day lives. According to Medina, (2012) planning for retirement isn’t a "walk in the park" because for many people, debts are high while income is low.