Question: Refer to Explorations in Literature for a complete version of this story.

What is one theme in Flannery O’Connor’s “Everything That Rises Must Converge”?

Nothing in life comes free.

A mother’s love is powerful.

We always hurt the ones we love.

What goes up must come down.

Answer: We always hurt the ones we love.

Question:

Answer: “She was one of the few members of the Y reducing class who arrived in hat and gloves and who had a son who had been to college.”

Question:

Answer: Julian realizes that he has treated his mother unkindly and really loves her.

Question:

Answer: Julian helps her, from a sense of obligation, but he treats her rudely at the same time.

Question:

Answer: Professor Shlemiel, the main character, narrates a series of his own mishaps to show that he is a forgetful person.