1．目的及意义
The basic plot of the story appears to be very simple. One evening, following the racial integration of the public buses in the South, Julian Chestny is accompanying his mother to an exercise class at the "Y." During the ride downtown, they talk to several people on the bus. Then a black woman boards the bus wearing a hat which is identical to the hat worn by Mrs. Chestny. Mrs. Chestny begins a conversation with the small child of that black woman, and when they get off of the bus together, Mrs. Chestny offers the small black boy a shiny penny. The black woman, insulted by Mrs. Chestny's gift to the child, strikes her with a big purse, knocking her to the ground. Julian, who feels his mother has been taught a good lesson, begins to talk to her about the emergence of blacks in the new South. While he is speaking to his mother, she suffers a stroke (or a heart attack) as a result of the blow, and she dies, leaving Julian grief-stricken and running for help.
As for the main character, Julian, he eagerly seeks to embrace the new, integrated South and the promises of and racial equality. He rejects the older social order and espouses the liberal ideas of a younger generation, condemning older whites’ attitudes regarding race. Like most young, idealistic Southerners, however, he has trouble acting on his convictions and fully treating blacks as equals or even people. What’s worse, Julian seems to have no more understanding of African Americans than his prejudiced mother, despite the liberal views he believes. It becomes increasingly clear as the story progresses that he speaks of racial equality only to annoy his mother, not out of any compassion for black Americans.
Purpose: In conclusion, this thesis is aimed to introduce the plight of Julian, that is, to summarize the psychology of Julian. As is mentioned above, Julian has the thought of racial equality which is imperfect and unrealistic. Although he tries to change his mother's attitude towards blacks, but he still dreams of the past and he doesn't handle the relationships with blacks well. To show Julian ‘s thoughts more clearly, there can be a comparison between Julian and his mother who has patronizing attitude toward blacks derives from fear and her dated perceptions of society and racial equality. What’s more, this thesis will make an analysis of the reasons behind his plight. Here are some of them: First, Julian's experience is special and contradictory: on one hand, he is the descendant of the southern aristocrat and the big landowners. His ancestors had prominent family name and one of them was the former governor and landowner with a large number of slaves; On the other hand, he was the new south after the civil war. Growing up in the new social environment, Julian is the new generation who receives new education and ideas. Julian’s mother often talks about the history of their family and asks Julian not to forget his experience, but Julian, from language to behavior, has shown great disapproval of his mother. Second, Julian is influenced by the social background. This story takes place during the civil rights movement when federal, state, and local governments made sweeping reforms in the North and South to end poverty and racial discrimination. But things does go well. Julian attempts to distinguish himself from his mother’s antiquated beliefs by publicly demonstrating his liberal views on integration and racial relations. Throughout the story, he makes failed attempts to connect to blacks and repeatedly discovers that the people with whom he converses do not live up to his idealized expectations of them. When he tries to strike up conversation with the black man in the suit on the bus, for example, he comes across as awkward and intrusive. Julian desperately wants to demonstrate that he can communicate and connect to blacks, but he finds himself unable to connect to other people on their own terms, particularly across racial lines. In a word, his failure results from the complicated social background where it’s difficult for blacks and whites to have harmonious relationships.
Significance: Personal development is bound to be influenced by the social background. New south means that plantation economy that white people were the core and blacks were the private property totally collapsed. The superiority of Southern whites have suffered greatly. The social system and culture changed, which leads to the fact that new south faces the reconstruction of economic and politics, and the new relationship between whites and blacks. The new generation represented by Julian are in the vortex of reformation. They are neither like the old-fashioned people who grown in old southern society, nor like open American in modern society. Actually, they are the confusing and contradictory generation who suffer from the pain of transition from old to new social. In a word, the analysis of Julian provides us a better understanding of the social background at that time.
Domestic and overseas research status: The research about this novel at home and abroad is rare. The foreign research is mainly about traumatic recurrences and characters. Traumatic Recurrences in White Southern Literature: O'Connor's “Everything that Rises must Converge” and Welty's “Clytie”(Williamson, Jenn, 2009) is about recurring cultural wounds revealed in white Southern literature. A reading of Flannery O’Connors “Everything that Rises Must Converge”(Zadeh, Mohammad Reza Modarres, 2013) analyzes the main characters, Julian and his mother. The domestic research is mainly to analyze the role of the image(奥康纳小说《上升的一切必将汇合》中的意象分析, 贾婷, 2017), the unique racial attitudes in southern society(论奥康纳小说《上升的一切必将汇合》中的种族观念, 桂沅沅, 2016), and the odd characters(美国南方“圣经地带”怪诞的灵魂写手:论奥康纳和她的小说, 傅景川, 2000). What’s more, there is a periodical about the bewilderment of Julian(朱利安的困惑, 汪茜, 2017). The author attributes it to Julian’s identity and O'Connor's contradictory thoughts, and mentions the social background. But the analysis can go further. Therefore, there is still plenty of room for this research.
{title}

2. 研究的基本内容与方案

{title}

Content: This paper will fully analyze the psychology and situation of Julian, the representative of young and progressive southerners at that time. Julian believes racial equality, and tries to change his mother's attitude towards blacks, but he still dreams of the past and he doesn't handle the relationships with blacks well. He rejects the older social order and espouses the liberal ideas of a younger generation, condemning older whites’ attitudes regarding race. Like most young, idealistic Southerners, Julian has trouble acting on his convictions and fully treating blacks as equals or even people, which leads to his contradictory thoughts or behaviour. Furthermore, the paper will study the reasons behind his plight, such as family influence, tradition, experience, education, or social background, especially his complex experience and special social background:

Purpose: the analysis of Julian provides a better understanding of the social background at that time. Black Americans, long treated as second-class citizens, began to make themselves heard in America by demanding that they be given equal rights under the law. Accounts of bus boycotts and freedom marches were part of the daily news reports, and Southern writers were expected to give their views on "relations between people in the South, especially between Negroes and whites." Therefore, we can find that all the characters in this story struggle to either maintain or redefine their sense of experience as the drama of the civil rights movement unfolds. The white women on the bus, for example, deride black passengers in order to reestablish their social dominance. As for Julian, his college education actually makes him a benefactor of the changing social climate, and he wanders between classes and visions of society, often accusing of social inequalities while simultaneously daydreaming of the old time.

Measures: In order to get a complete and systematic explanation as accurate as possible, the thesis will adapt such research methods. Firstly, collecting the background information about the civil rights movement and the writer, Flannery O’Connor. As we all know, this story was first published in 1961. So it is necessary to recall the social upheaval which the nation in general and the South in particular was experiencing during the 1950s. Besides, the study of the writer can help us understand the writer’s attitudes towards this issue. Secondly, analyzing the text. To explain the plight of Julian, the thesis has to provide a good summary of his contradictory thoughts and dilemma which needs a thorough understanding of the text. What’s more, summarizing the reason of his plight not only needs the background information, but also needs the analysis of the text, which means the details offered by the writer can be an useful clue.

3. 参考文献

[1]Brinkmeyer ,Robert. The Art and Vison of Flannery O’Connor. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1989.

[2]Gentry, Marshall Bruce. Flannery O’Conner’s Religion of the Grotesque. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi,1986.

[3]O'Connor, Flannery . Everything That Rises Must Converge[M]. Farrar Straus Giroux, 1965.

[4]Williamson, Jenn . Traumatic Recurrences in White Southern Literature: O'Connor's “Everything that Rises must Converge” and Welty's “Clytie”[J] . Women's Studies, 2009.

[5]Winn，Harbour.Everything That Rises Must Converge： O’Conner’s Seven-Story[J].Cycle.Periodicals Archive Online，1990：187.

[6]Zadeh, Mohammad Reza Modarres. A reading of Flannery O’Connors “Everything that Rises Must Converge”[J]. International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences, 2013(4): 5-10.

[7]陈曦 . 南方文化痼疾之解剖：弗兰纳里·奥康纳的短篇小说研究[D] . 苏州大学硕士论文，2014.