Hypocrisy In 'Everything That Rises Must Converge'

An ideal world where everyone stands on the same ground, where no one is on a pedestal and no one is in a sink hole in any aspect – may they be rights, privileges, social classes, or possessions – seems like an impossible feat. This is due to the numerous perspectives about rights and privileges that differ everywhere, and the almost impossible challenge to find an intersection where all the boundaries meet. A major reason for the difficulty of creating an ideal world is hypocrisy because people reprimand others for their own mistakes, yet they do not want to admit their own faults. Such hypocrisy is most evident in the pieces “A&P” by John Updike and “Everything That Rises Must Converge” by Flannery O’Connor. While Sammy, an adolescent, who …show more content…
It is obvious that his attraction to the girls is merely physical, showing that he is trivializing the girls. He does a “heroic” deed of saving the girls’ dignity yet he does not even respect them when he scrutinizes every single detail about their physical appearances – showing that he is a hypocrite. Similarly, in “Everything That Rises Must Converge,” Julian tries and fails to befriend people of color because he only aims to displease his mother, and not actually have friends that are of a different race. He claims that his mother is racist because of the way she grew up while he is even worse. He is educated about the wrongness of segregation yet he does not make any moves toward desegregation. He suggests that he is hypocritical because through his actions towards the Black – but only those who seem like they look civilized enough for Julian – because he cannot get past his own wrong judgment. O’Connor exemplifies Julian’s impropriety when he imagines trying to teach his mother a lesson by “[making] friends with some distinguished Negro professor or lawyer and bring him home to spend the evening.” (46). Henceforth, the characters further prove that they are hypocrites through their indecent actions towards the people who they claim to

Show More

Hypocrisy In 'Everything That Rises Must Converge'

Related Documents: Hypocrisy In 'Everything That Rises Must Converge'

Flanery O Conner Essay