Journal 2, WITVCF, ETRMC

Aria Bashizadeh Fakhar
Journal 2
Where is the Voice Coming From vs. Everything that Rises Must Converge

In each story, politics plays an integral role in how the character reacts to the black people around him. In the story Everything that Rises…the protagonist is a black person sympathizer, who defies all social and political norms by trying to befriend, albeit unsuccessfully, any black person that he encounters. Julian is educated as well, and sees himself as higher than those around him because of his sympathies towards the black race. He sees them as equals to him, even though they don’t acknowledge his existence, and even offend him (via the lottery ticket from the apparently rich black man). The protagonist of Where is the Voice Coming From, however, lives in a world where black people have no right to be equal, and no right to be anywhere in his vicinity, let alone anywhere in his city. He shoots the man simply because he lives in his town, and has become somewhat famous and rich (It is hinted that he is rich, because his driveway is paved, he drives a new car, and is apparently an active member of the NAACP). Roland Summers did absolutely nothing to the main character, he did not know him, and he had never met him before, yet the main character sees fit to shoot him and watch him die in front of his wife, simply because he’s “out planning still some other ways to do what we tell ‘em they can’t” Meaning that he was trying to is take his people to equal levels, and our main character certainly doesn’t take kindly to that fact. Thermopylae, the city that our character lives in, becomes a target of an investigation by the NAACP and the police, and it is rumored that the NAACP took out Roland themselves, showing a severe distrust of the organization.
Each story presents its own version of what is bad behavior. Murder, because of race is a-okay in Where the Voice is Coming From, and in Everything that Rises Must Converge, treating your mother like a child, and turning a hateful eye to her due to her beliefs is seen as bad, as indicated in Julian’s suffering in the end of the story.
Where is the Voice Coming From was predictable, but only due to the fact that it was necessary to read it more than three times to fully comprehend what was going on in the story, and by the time it was fully understood, all of the surprises that could have been were washed away. However, I was quite surprised by the ending of Everything that Rises Must Converge, because I had completely forgotten why there were going to the Y in the first place, and after the black lady told off Julian’s mother her heart attack had completely blindsided me.