Everything that Rises Must Converge

Just one year before her death in 1963, Flannery O’Connor won her second O. Henry Award for ‘‘Everything That Rises Must Converge,’’ a powerful depiction of a troubled mother-son relationship. In 1965 the story was published in her well-regarded short fiction collection, Everything That Rises Must Converge.
Most critics view ‘‘Everything That Rises Must Converge’’ as a prime example of O’Connor’s literary and moral genius. The story exemplifies her ability to expose human weakness and explore important moral questions through everyday situations. Considered a classic of the short story form, ‘‘Everything That Rises Must Converge’’ has been anthologized frequently.
The story describes the events surrounding a fateful bus trip that an arrogant young man takes with his bigoted mother. The mother insists on her son’s company because she doesn’t like to ride the bus alone, especially since the bus system was recently integrated. The tensions in their relationship come to a head when a black mother and son board the same bus.
O’Connor utilizes biting irony to expose the blindness and ignorance of her characters. The story’s title refers to an underlying religious message that is central to her work: she aims to expose the sinful nature of humanity that often goes unrecognized in the modern, secular world.


http://www.enotes.com/everything-rises

Doe season

Personal Information: Family: Born April 4, 1946, in New York, NY; son of Sidney and Minnie Marie (Henson) Kaplan; married Elizabeth Hope Crighton, August 16, 1976 (divorced); married Joyce Winer, July, 1988. Education: Yale University, B.A., 1967; University of Iowa, M.F.A., 1987. Addresses: Office: Department of English, Crown Center for the Humanities, Loyola University of Chicago, 6525 North Sheridan Rd., Chicago, IL 60626
Career: North Carolina Advancement School, Winston-Salem, English instructor, 1965-66; Learning Institute, Durham, NC, curriculum construction, 1968-71; Shadowstone Films, Durham, NC, creative director, 1971-76; National TV News, Los Angeles, CA, production director, 1976-84; Loyola University of Chicago, IL, assistant professor, then associate professor of English, 1987--.
Comfort (short stories), Viking (New York), 1987.
Skating in the Dark (novel), Pantheon Books (New York), 1991.
Revision: A Creative Approach to Writing and Rewriting Fiction, Story Press (Cincinnati, OH), 1997.

http://www.amyscott.com/david_michael_kaplan.htm

A good man is hard to find

O'Connor's story is told by a third-person narrator, but the focus is on the Grandmother's perspective of events. Even though she complains that she would rather go to Tennessee than Florida for vacation, she packs herself (and secretly her cat, Pitty Sing) in the car with her son Bailey, his wife, and their children June Star, John Wesley, and the baby. In a comical instance of foreshadowing, she takes pains to dress properly in a dress and hat, so that if she were found dead on the highway everyone would recognize her as a lady.
When the family stops for lunch at Red Sammy Butts' barbecue place, the proprietor, a husky man, is insulted by June Star. Nevertheless, he and the Grandmother discuss the escaped murderer known as the Misfit. Noting that the world is increasingly a more dangerous and unfriendly place, Red Sammy tells the Grandmother that these days "A good man is hard to find." Back on the road, the Grandmother convinces her hen-pecked son to go out of their way so they can visit an old plantation she recalls from her childhood. The children second her suggestion when she mentions that the house contains secret passageways.... »
http://www.enotes.com/good-man

The problem with human compassion

This is a story that needs your help... Many of you know me and the dogs I save and advocate for. This is a compelling story. PLEASE, don't go back and attack the shelter system, as they are making the dog available to rescue, not killing him as others might. The fault here lies with the civilian who broke the rules and put his hand into a cage and then reported it.There are a series of disturbing questions, however: Eight years before the Hokget saga began, the same world that showed extraordinary compassion for a dog sat on its hands as hundreds of thousands of human beings were killed in the Rwandan genocide. The 20th century reveals a shockingly long list of similar horrors that have been ignored by the world as they unfolded. Why have successive generations done so little to halt suffering on such a large scale?

http://www.pittsreport.com/2010/02/the-problem-with-human-compassion/

the dinner of the hour

It takes place only after the young Andy realizes that death is involved in this thing called "Hunting." There are three symbols in this story that have a great deal to do with the central theme. Of course, the doe would represent the innocence being destroyed. The ocean is supposed to be adulthood, when it is mentioned that "That was the first time she'd seen the ocean, and it frightened her. It was huge and empty, yet always moving. Everything lay hidden" (345-346). As well as the last context stating, "...all around her roared the mocking of the terrible, now inevitable, sea" (354). Her mother's accidental exposal of her breasts is a symbol of Andy's seeing that she will, one day, be like that. Her mother is the only way of seeing what womanhood is like. Finally, the changes made in the main character, Andy, have a lot to do with the central theme. She first prays, " Please let us get a deer" (348). After she shoots the deer, she thought, "What have I done" (352)? At the end, when she watches her father cut the deer open, Andy started running away from them. "Charlie Spoon and Mac and her father--crying ‘Andy, Andy' (but that wasn't her name, she would no longer be called that)" (354). Each experience enabled her to lose a little bit of innocence each time. Actually, for a child to advance and grow in life, it takes the loss of innocence. So that is what the change in the character was; her loss of innocence. It is clearly shown throughout each and every one of the elements that in order to fully become an adult, a child must come to terms that living comes along with the difficult reality of dieing. In the sense that the child's loss of innocence cannot be avoided, just as the doe's loss of life cannot be. This is just a part of life, a part of growing, a part of becoming an adult. Everyone goes through it. Everyone has their own personal experience of the loss. This little girl's was conveyed in the scenario of death.
http://www.oppapers.com/essays/Doe-Season-Analysis/65513

The one hour

What Causes Heart Disease?

by Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enig, PhD

For almost forty years, the lipid hypothesis or diet-heart idea has dominated medical thinking about heart disease. In broad outlines, this theory proposes that when we eat foods rich in saturated fat and cholesterol, cholesterol is then deposited in our arteries in the form of plaque or atheromas that cause blockages. If the blockages become severe, or if a clot forms that cannot get past the plaque, the heart is starved of blood and a heart attack occurs.

Many distinguished scientists have pointed to serious flaws in this theory, beginning with the fact that heart disease in America has increased during the period when consumption of saturated fat has decreased. "The diet-heart idea," said the distinguished George Mann, "is the greatest scam in the history of medicine."And the chorus of dissidents continues to grow, even as this increasingly untenable theory has been applied to the whole population, starting with lowfat diets for growing children and mass medication with cholesterol-lowering drugs for adults.

But if it ain't cholesterol, what causes heart disease? We don't know enough to say for sure but we do have many clues; and although these clues present a complicated picture, it is not beyond the abilities of dedicated scientists to unravel them. Nor is the picture so complex that the consumer cannot make reasonable life-style adjustments to improve his chances.

http://www.trit.us/moderndiseases/hd.html

Love and Other Catastrophes: a mix tape

What is love? It is one of the most difficult questions for the mankind. Centuries have passed by, relationships have bloomed and so has love. But no one can give the proper definition of love. To some Love is friendship set on fire for others Maybe love is like luck. You have to go all the way to find it. No matter how you define it or feel it, love is the eternal truth in the history of mankind. Love is patient, love is kind. It has no envy, nor it boasts itself and it is never proud. It rejoices over the evil and is the truth seeker. Love protects; preserves and hopes for the positive aspect of life. Always stand steadfast in love, not fall into it. It is like the dream of your matter of affection coming true. Love can occur between two or more individuals. It bonds them and connects them in a unified link of trust, intimacy and interdependence. It enhances the relationship and comforts the soul. Love should be experienced and not just felt. The depth of love can not be measured. Look at the relationship between a mother and a child. The mother loves the child unconditionally and it can not be measured at all. A different dimension can be attained between any relationships with the magic of love. Love can be created. You just need to focus on the goodness of the other person. If this can be done easily, then you can also love easily. And remember we all have some positive aspect in us, no matter how bad our deeds maybe. And as God said �Love all�

http://www.love-sessions.com/whatislove.htm