I AM JULIAN

    "The further irony of all this was that in spite of her, he had turned out so well. In spite of going to only a third-rate college, he had, on his own initiative, come out with a first-rate education; in spite of growing up dominated by a small mind, he had ended up with a large one; in spite of all her foolish views, he was free of prejudice and unafraid to face facts. Most miraculous of all, instead of being blinded by love for her as she was for him, he had cut himself emotionally free of her and could see her with complete objectivity. He was not dominated by his mother."

**Can I just say, I love this story and furthermore, I think Julian is a great person despite his mother and the death he may have/have not caused. Now, with that having been said, I'm moving on to my analysis. 

In Flannery O' Connor's Everything that Rises Must Converge, we meet an aspiring writer who just graduated from College. His name was Julian. Opposite of who he was, was his prejudice mother. Now to be fair, this was a time when integration of Caucasian Americans and African Americans was first established. It seems because Julian's mother grew so accustomed to the way things were, she let fear of the unknown progress into full-blown ignorance. What I found refreshing was that Julian remained his own person despite his upbringing. When a child, or a person, acts recklessly in public or conversely very well-mannered in public--that individual's upbringing/parents are automatically either blamed or praised. 

Julian was determined to be his own person despite all of the disadvantages his mother afforded him. He, himself, was not racist and his mind was not only opened to change--it welcomed it. The irony is that as much as he didn't hate his mother, he still wanted to be the one to teach her a lesson on the way things are now. The quote above sums up the dynamic between Julian and his mother in two simple sentences. The fact that he was not dominated by her views, it made him free to be whoever he wanted to be. 

In the story, his mother says "if you know who you are, you can go anywhere." This is very true. Julian knew who he was and it made him free to talk to anyone, go anywhere and be the best person he wanted to be. He reminds me of myself. I, myself have opposing beliefs from my parents, but I'm still who I am. Not one person may understand that, but not one person can change that. Despite any disadvantages I've been afforded, I'm still going to get to where I am going. I'm a writer just the same. "Selling type-writers" won't cut it, just like Julian knew within himself. Julian wanted to write, Julian would fall back into his own world and invite no one to join him, Julian had cut himself emotionally from the perceptions that would fail him--I am Julian. 

Omitting all of the racial prejudices, Flannery O' Connor inadvertently wrote a story about me. It was nice to see it written down.