I have to admit though that I was totally caught off guard by the ending. Julian has some very typical and some non-typical things going on in his life. The typical thing has to do with some of things he has going on with his mother. I'm sure we all at some time or another have been with our parents when things that they say or do embarrass us or make us feel embarrassed for them. We all have been in his position of doing things for our parents that we may or may not want to do but we still do them as we feel obligated to them for all they do for us.
The non-typical thing is that Julian appears to be in his early twenties and still lives at home and does not appear to be doing anything to better his lot in life in regards to getting a job and having his own life.
This was written in the mid '60's and I am sure Julian would not be alone in the feeling of embarrassment of how his mother looked at and treated "Negro's". Julian may have been somewhat prejudiced himself as he states in a couple of different passages that he goes out of his way to sit and talk to other races.
As I was reading this I saw that there was going to be some sort of incident on the bus. I really expected it to come from the man rather than the woman though. As the story progressed the ending I saw and expected was some sort of epiphany coming the mother's way. I really expected the child or mother to say something profound that would suddenly make Julian's mother realize what a racist she was. I did not expect that the epiphany would be a fist to the face from the other mother. Once the assault occurred my thinking changed somewhat to the fact the story would end with Julian's mother not understanding what she did wrong and life just carrying on as it had.
As I finished the story I was caught off guard by the ending as I'm sure most of the class was. I hate to admit it but as I finished the story the thought went through my mind that I would have not been surprised by the ending had it been written by a man rather than a woman. I know that sounds totally sexist but it was a thought that I had.It was really interesting to me how the story turned dark so quickly and how caught off guard I was by the ending. I enjoyed the read.
This story is about a young man named Julian and his mother. Julian has graduated from college and is living with his mom, he has no job, no hopes, no dreams, no desires. He is depressed and disappointed with life. Julian's mother is old, looks at life positively, and needs to take a weight reducing class at the Y. So she bribes Julian into taking her to her class.
Most of the story takes place on the bus. Julian tries teaching his mother a lesson by sitting next to a colored person. His mother gets mad at him, because she thinks that colored people shouldn't be allowed to ride the bus with white people. Later in the bus ride a colored woman gets on with her child. Even though the child is colored, Julian's mother thinks they are more cuter than white children, so she starts talking with him.
When they get off the bus, Julian's mother tries giving the colored child a penny, but the child's mother gets offended ant hits Julian's mother with her big red purse. Julian thought that finally his mother was receiving a long deserved lesson, so as she started walking towards home, he started scolding her. All of a sudden his mother starts saying nonsense and then falls to the ground. She had a stroke and that is how the story ends.
I thought that this was a sad story because it has such a sad ending. I liked Julian's mother, I didn't like her discrimination toward colored people, but overall I liked her character. For Julian it wasn't a happy ending either for two reasons. The first one is that he lost his mother. The second reason is that he felt guilt and sorrow for what had happened. In some ways, it sort of is his fault that his mother had such an end, but it's not entirely his fault.
The story is about a young man out of college named Julian and his mother. The mother is very racist, up beat, chipper and smiling always. She went without many things to give to her son. He seemed to not appreciate many things or see where they came from or what they are. The story takes place mainly on the bus. They are headed to the Y for her reducing weight class. Julian doesn't like to even have to be a part of this. It is almost like he acts as if his mother is asking too much when he has no job, lives at home, no dreams, etc. The mother is upset when colored people get on the bus. She interacts with a colored child and has no problem. She ends up getting into a fight with the colored childs mom when they get off the bus as she tried giving the little boy a penny. Julian ends up arguing with his mom and feels a lesson needs to be taught. The mom decides not to go to the Y and walk home. I was surprised at the ending when the mother died of a stroke. It was almost like karma to the Julian. Sad ending but a great story.
This short story was a very moving piece I believe really accounted for how life was during 1950's and 60's. Julian seems to be a normal person who graduated college and didn't really know what else to do but sell typewriters when he aspired to be a writer himself. His mother was always overly optimistic about how their life went maybe even ignorant to the fact that things were changing. Julian seemed to resent this in her and tried to strive for something better.
Julian and his mother took the bus to the YMCA for exercise to help with her weight and blood pressure. The mother's blatant racism annoyed her son a great deal. Julian made an effort to sit beside a black man in retaliation. His mother was extremely angry. He hoped to start conversation with the man but failed. Instead, he thought about other ways he could interact with black people to teach his mother a lesson, such as bringing a black woman home.
There was a chance for Julian to teach his mother a lesson as a black woman and her child came onto the bus. The woman wore the same hat as his mother but surprisingly had no effect on his mother. It didn't matter to his mother that a black person had her hat, instead, she laughed. This frustrated Julian and shattered his hopes that his mother would ever learn her lesson.
Getting to their stop, Julian was shocked as the black woman and her child were also getting off. His mother was going to give the boy a coin. Julian knew this would upset the black woman and tried to warn his mother. It was too late, the black woman felt insulted and hit his mother. Julian found this opportunity to tell her mother what she did wrong.
In a turn of events, his mother has a stroke and ultimately dies. It's quite a sad ending that shows things could have been better. Julian throws down the issue and tries to help his mother in a last ditch effort but to no avail. The story shows that in racism and some ways in dealing with racism no one wins.
The story is call Everything that rises must converge is about young men that is living with her mother, because he can not afford living by his own.Julian that does not like her mom believes, but Julian resentfully agrees to escort her, that is the least he can do for her mother, woman who paid his way through college. Julian mother is wearing her not attractive new hat, contemplates returning it to pay the monthly gas bill. Julian talks about moving to a bigger city and her mom encouraged him dream.
This was a very interesting read.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit though that I was totally caught off guard by the ending. Julian has some very typical and some non-typical things going on in his life. The typical thing has to do with some of things he has going on with his mother. I'm sure we all at some time or another have been with our parents when things that they say or do embarrass us or make us feel embarrassed for them. We all have been in his position of doing things for our parents that we may or may not want to do but we still do them as we feel obligated to them for all they do for us.
The non-typical thing is that Julian appears to be in his early twenties and still lives at home and does not appear to be doing anything to better his lot in life in regards to getting a job and having his own life.
This was written in the mid '60's and I am sure Julian would not be alone in the feeling of embarrassment of how his mother looked at and treated "Negro's". Julian may have been somewhat prejudiced himself as he states in a couple of different passages that he goes out of his way to sit and talk to other races.
As I was reading this I saw that there was going to be some sort of incident on the bus. I really expected it to come from the man rather than the woman though. As the story progressed the ending I saw and expected was some sort of epiphany coming the mother's way. I really expected the child or mother to say something profound that would suddenly make Julian's mother realize what a racist she was. I did not expect that the epiphany would be a fist to the face from the other mother. Once the assault occurred my thinking changed somewhat to the fact the story would end with Julian's mother not understanding what she did wrong and life just carrying on as it had.
As I finished the story I was caught off guard by the ending as I'm sure most of the class was. I hate to admit it but as I finished the story the thought went through my mind that I would have not been surprised by the ending had it been written by a man rather than a woman. I know that sounds totally sexist but it was a thought that I had.It was really interesting to me how the story turned dark so quickly and how caught off guard I was by the ending. I enjoyed the read.
This story is about a young man named Julian and his mother. Julian has graduated from college and is living with his mom, he has no job, no hopes, no dreams, no desires. He is depressed and disappointed with life. Julian's mother is old, looks at life positively, and needs to take a weight reducing class at the Y. So she bribes Julian into taking her to her class.
ReplyDeleteMost of the story takes place on the bus. Julian tries teaching his mother a lesson by sitting next to a colored person. His mother gets mad at him, because she thinks that colored people shouldn't be allowed to ride the bus with white people. Later in the bus ride a colored woman gets on with her child. Even though the child is colored, Julian's mother thinks they are more cuter than white children, so she starts talking with him.
When they get off the bus, Julian's mother tries giving the colored child a penny, but the child's mother gets offended ant hits Julian's mother with her big red purse. Julian thought that finally his mother was receiving a long deserved lesson, so as she started walking towards home, he started scolding her. All of a sudden his mother starts saying nonsense and then falls to the ground. She had a stroke and that is how the story ends.
I thought that this was a sad story because it has such a sad ending. I liked Julian's mother, I didn't like her discrimination toward colored people, but overall I liked her character. For Julian it wasn't a happy ending either for two reasons. The first one is that he lost his mother. The second reason is that he felt guilt and sorrow for what had happened. In some ways, it sort of is his fault that his mother had such an end, but it's not entirely his fault.
The story is about a young man out of college named Julian and his mother. The mother is very racist, up beat, chipper and smiling always. She went without many things to give to her son. He seemed to not appreciate many things or see where they came from or what they are. The story takes place mainly on the bus. They are headed to the Y for her reducing weight class. Julian doesn't like to even have to be a part of this. It is almost like he acts as if his mother is asking too much when he has no job, lives at home, no dreams, etc. The mother is upset when colored people get on the bus. She interacts with a colored child and has no problem. She ends up getting into a fight with the colored childs mom when they get off the bus as she tried giving the little boy a penny. Julian ends up arguing with his mom and feels a lesson needs to be taught. The mom decides not to go to the Y and walk home. I was surprised at the ending when the mother died of a stroke. It was almost like karma to the Julian. Sad ending but a great story.
ReplyDeleteThis short story was a very moving piece I believe really accounted for how life was during 1950's and 60's. Julian seems to be a normal person who graduated college and didn't really know what else to do but sell typewriters when he aspired to be a writer himself. His mother was always overly optimistic about how their life went maybe even ignorant to the fact that things were changing. Julian seemed to resent this in her and tried to strive for something better.
ReplyDeleteJulian and his mother took the bus to the YMCA for exercise to help with her weight and blood pressure. The mother's blatant racism annoyed her son a great deal. Julian made an effort to sit beside a black man in retaliation. His mother was extremely angry. He hoped to start conversation with the man but failed. Instead, he thought about other ways he could interact with black people to teach his mother a lesson, such as bringing a black woman home.
There was a chance for Julian to teach his mother a lesson as a black woman and her child came onto the bus. The woman wore the same hat as his mother but surprisingly had no effect on his mother. It didn't matter to his mother that a black person had her hat, instead, she laughed. This frustrated Julian and shattered his hopes that his mother would ever learn her lesson.
Getting to their stop, Julian was shocked as the black woman and her child were also getting off. His mother was going to give the boy a coin. Julian knew this would upset the black woman and tried to warn his mother. It was too late, the black woman felt insulted and hit his mother. Julian found this opportunity to tell her mother what she did wrong.
In a turn of events, his mother has a stroke and ultimately dies. It's quite a sad ending that shows things could have been better. Julian throws down the issue and tries to help his mother in a last ditch effort but to no avail. The story shows that in racism and some ways in dealing with racism no one wins.
The story is call Everything that rises must converge is about young men that is living with her mother, because he can not afford living by his own.Julian that does not like her mom believes, but Julian resentfully agrees to escort her, that is the least he can do for her mother, woman who paid his way through college. Julian mother is wearing her not attractive new hat, contemplates returning it to pay the monthly gas bill. Julian talks about moving to a bigger city and her mom encouraged him dream.
ReplyDelete