"Everything that rises must converge" and "Good country people"

In both stories, there are many similarities between Julian and Joy/Hulga. It is obvious that both Julian and Joy are educated and are out of school, but they are also both negative in their views on life. They both dwell on their past; Julian because he thinks his mother's "good job" in his upbringing is doing no good and because he has been out of college for a year, and Joy because of her disability. They are also both very rebellious against their mothers. Both Joy and Julian want control of their own lives; their mothers want to control their lives for them. Their actions in both stories sygnify that they will not let let their mothers control them. For example, Joy changes her name against her mother's wishes to prove that she is head strong and will do what she wants.

In both "Everything that rises must converge" and "Good country people," Juian's mother and Joy's mother are very much alike. In the stories, both mothers live in the past and do not seem to adapt well with the changing of the world. For example, in "Everything that rises must converge," Julian tells us that his mother stops riding the bus alone since it became integrated; she still views blacks as inferior to her and does not approve of them. Both Julian's mom and Joy's mom are also alike in that they "put on a happy face" just to get by the unpleasantness of the presence of those people they do not like. For example, in "Good country people," Mrs. Hopewell (Joy's mom) smiles and lies to the bible seller; she finds this bible seller annoying because she does not want to buy a bible. Another example is in "Everything that rises must converge." Towards the end of the story, Julian's mom smiles and acts to the black person that sits next to her on the bus; she acts as if the woman's presence is plesant, when it really bothers her.

Contrary to all the similarities between these stories, there are also some differences. In "Everything that rises must converge," the mother has a medical condition. Unlike that story, in "Good country people," Joy, instead of her mother, has a medical condition. There are also some differences in the mothers as well. In "Good country people," Mrs. Hopewell has false hopes for her daughter; deep down feels that her daughter will have no future. In "Everything that rises must converge," Julian's mom is truely hopeful for her son She encourgages her son about the future and tells him not to give up. She tells him that "Rome wasn't built in a day."