Vittoria Guarino 
Gothic Symbolism in Flannery O´Connor´s ‘Everything That Rises Must Converge’. A literary analysis [PDF ebook] 

Seminar paper from the year 2021 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies — Literature, grade: 1, 7, http://www.uni-jena.de/ (English and American Studies), course: Academic Writing I, language: English, abstract: Some of the allegories enclosed in the concrete symbols of ‘Everything That Rises Must Converge’ have also occurred throughout the centuries under various similar forms in other Gothic fictions and are, therefore, considered to be typical Gothic motifs.
The examination of the symbolism in “ETRMC”, by unconvering its allegorical messages, appears to me to be of considerable interest in order to outline some traditional Gothic motifs which have been included in the story and which unleash its Gothic character.
The analysis will be structured, as follows: first I will define O´Connor´s conception of literary symbolism, second I will proceed by investigating the symbols corresponding to the motifs of the discomforting ambiance in the story and at last I will concentrate on the motif of the alter-ego and its symbols.