The Flaws in a Relationship The symbolism in Everything That Rises Must Converge is used to portray relationships and issues in Julian and his mother's relationship. From the conflicting usage of a newspaper that Julian reads on the bus, to the importance of the hat to his mother; these objects are used to point out minor flaws in the conflicting mentalities of both Julian and his mother. In the end, her outdated beliefs cause an unfortunate event where the convergence of two different groups of people impact the mother in an extreme way. In Everything That Rises Must Converge by Flannery O’Connor, Julian and his mother experience conflicts with different symbols presented throughout the story that clearly put the relationship through a lot of tension and arguable periods. The importance of a hat to Julian’s mother, is seen as a ridiculous accessory with little meaning to her son; in fact, most people would view this item in the same way. A hat in Julian’s mother's case, however, is a representation of uniqueness, wealth, and a personal factor to her enjoyment of life. She cares about how she looks, and although Julian critiques her for using the hat to impress others, she is one to refer to the hat as an importance of who she is. Even over a simple object there is a risen tension that puts the…show more content… The use of symbols show the opposing ideas and values of certain objects and ideas, causing Julian and his mother to become distant in their relationship. The unwillingness of both Julian and Mrs. Chesney to stand down for what they believe in brings characters a sense of loss, and unexpected feelings as they understand more about the truth of each other's beliefs and morals; resulting in a loss of relationships and a feeling of
