Everything That Rises Must Converge Essay

Words: 1015
Pages: 5

The majority of people have a sense of who they are and their identity. This means everyone has their own opinions and beliefs. Several people often debate the source of the personality of a person. Some believe a person’s identity comes from their race, their ancestors’ origins, and their own past. While these factors may play a small part in a person’s personality, most determine who they are by something other than their race and past. However, a great deal of people choose to judge others based only on their racial features rather than giving the person a chance to show their true self identity. In “Everything That Rises Must Converge”, Flannery O’Connor uses her character Julian to show that people are not born knowing who they are and …show more content…
As seen in this excerpt, “‘It’s in the heart,’ she said, ‘and in how you do things and how you do things is because of who you are’”, she believes a person’s heart constructs their personality and life. (O’Connor 451). She believes the very way a person is born and looks defines who they are, and their identity cannot be changed. According to her way of thinking, Julian’s mother’s opinions and actions are due to her heart and the way her world used to be. She favors the past and desires the social classes to return to the way they once were. When observing behavior similar to Julian’s mother, people and their opinions often clash. Since everyone is different and has different views, one cannot say that what they think is the only right and acceptable opinion. One single person on this planet cannot decide for everyone else what should be done and praised and what should not be done and should be taboo. So when people like Julian’s mother share their discriminatory beliefs, no one can really reprimand them. Privileges such as freedom of speech and free will entitle prejudiced people to their beliefs, no matter how unkind or unfair they may