"Everything Rises Must Converge" by Emily Dickinson.

Essay by sumo28High School, 11th gradeA+, May 2003

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Historically, literature has presented its readers with a dominant male gender and has produced an inferior female. "Everything that Rises Must Converge", by Flannery O'Connor is a perfect example of literature that exhibits the values and characteristics of the traditional woman. It exposes the common stereotypes associated with women and identifies with the tribulations of a struggling female in a setting where prejudices ran rampant. Its main character portrays every woman's desperate struggle to succeed and to achieve a sense of identity during a time of her life where the odds were stacked against her.

The main character, a lonely widow, is immediately portrayed to the reader as a woman with very little in life to be thankful for. She suffers from high blood pressure and poor health, while she has raised a son who shows no gratitude for the sacrifices she has made to provide him with a better lifestyle.

Together she and her son, Julian, live in a lowly apartment situated in a slum. Their bleak lifestyle is presented in the very beginning of this story to almost gain sympathy for this poor mother.

It is implied that the financial status of a family is solely dependent upon the dominant male figure of the household. Julian, who bears this burden alone because of his father's death is a recent graduate of college and does not make money. This family finds itself with a lack of income because Julian's mother plays the role of a traditional woman who is not successful in the realm of business. This traditional role of the female gender is also shown by this family's predecessors. Julian's grandparents and even great-grandparents were very well to do because of their land acquisitions and position in government. However, their wealth was credited to his grandfather...