Simile Use In “Everything That Rises Must Converge“

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Understanding Similes in “Everything that Rises Must Converge”

The use of figurative language is usually present in all pieces of literature. Similes are a

form of figurative language that compares two things that are essentially different, and develops

the qualities of each person and/or thing to create a similarity between the two. They are also

used to be very descriptive and give the reader a mental image of what is occurring. Flannery

O’Connor paints these images in her short story “Everything that Rises Must Converge”. The

usage of similes in her story make use of the imagination, and captures the reader’s interest.


In the short story, “Everything that Rises Must Converge”, O’Connor writes about a

young, educated man dealing with his mother’s prejudicial opinion of black people. O’Connor

writes, “She rolled on to it every few days like a train on an open track”. This was in reference to

a negative comment made by Julian’s mother in regards to black people. A similarity is

developed between Julian’s mother and the train. By saying that she rolled on to it means that

she started talking about the subject. Saying the train was on an open track is descriptive on how

Julian’s mother can be one directional with her opinion and views. Also it shows that she may

talk about the subject for a while as a train would travel for a long period of time if on open

track.


Another instance where a simile is used to be descriptive is when another woman on the

bus speaks to Julian’s mother and says, “I come on one the other day and they were as thick as

fleas - up front and all through”. This very demeaning comment made by the woman refers to

black people being the fleas. Having fleas on a dog, all in small bunches and sporadically

throughout the dogs coat, would cause any one aggravation of having to deal with the nuis...