Everything That Rises Must Converge [contains spoilers]

Mr.Nice Guy

In the Lost Season 5 finale this was the book Jacob was seen reading on the park bench just before Locke fell out of the window. I picked this book up in the library a few days back and I finished it today. I'm not sure if the book contains clues on the show (I'm one of those who read The Third Policeman having seen it in the show and I don't believe it taught me much!) but considering it was Jacob reading it, I figured it might provide some clues.

One thing that's immediately striking about the book is just how dark it can be. The book features 9 short stories in total and most are about racial and class discrimination. I found the book a very enjoyable read and I would recommend it. It didn't provide me with a major epiphany on the show, what it does show is quite a negative account of humanity. It contains some ironic, and usually unfortunate, endings for various characters. I'll briefly sum up two of the stories that stuck out for me below as having relevance to Lost. Since it contains story endings I'll put it in spoilers so as not to ruin things for those of you who may want to eventually read it...

The first story is the book's title - Everything That Rises Must Converge. It's about a young man and his mother who have a strained relationship. She's sacrified a lot for her son and loves him. She is also old-fashioned, a racist too, whereas he's more of an intellectual. He's quite full of myself and looks down on her. They go on a bus ride together and on the bus is a black man who the young man tries to befriend in order to annoy his mother. A large black woman with her little boy also get on the bus. The young man finds it amusing that the black woman has the same hat on that his mother does. She notes his amusement and he revels in her discomfort. At the end of the story the man's mother goes to offer a penny to the black boy and the black woman angrily informs her he doesn't need no penny. The young man scolds his mother for her stupidity and the woman ends up having a heart attack on the street over the ordeal and dies. The young man is left crying for his mother while she feels regret for his behaviour.

I'm not sure if this story bears any connection to Lost but it could be argued the woman has a similar story to Locke. Both sacrificed a lot and ultimately their sacrifices were in vain. The woman's son doesn't respect her and in the end she dies whilst doing something she mistakenly thought was noble and generous, kind of like John Locke. Perhaps this could explain why Jacob was reading it prior to meeting Locke?

The other story that stood out for me in terms of possible connections to Lost was a story called 'The Lame Shall Enter First'. It's about an idealistic counsellor called Sheppard with has a son called Norton. His wife has died. He regards his son Norton as selfish and lazy. He takes an interest in a 14 year-old called Rufus who is intelligent but troublesome. Rufus is also a firm believer in God unlike Sheppard. He wants to help the boy so invites him to stay at his house. He tries to nurture Rufus's talents by buying him things like a telescope and a microscope. His son Norton ends up taking an interest in the telescope and claims he can see his dead mother through the telescope and that she has waved to him. Sheppard ignores this as silliness. Rufus abuses Sheppard's generosity and continues to get in trouble with the law. In the end he eventually distances himself from Rufus and realises he has neglected his son. At the end of the story he goes to his son who he finds dead outside having apparently tried to jump out of the window to reach his dead mother.

Obviously one thing that's notable with possible Lost connections is in the name Sheppard. In the story the character is very much a believer in science and tries to dispel any talk of religion. The character of Rufus is a firm believer in God and has a dodgy leg which got me thinking that perhaps there were parallels between Jack and Locke in the story. The man of science vs the man of faith. The character of Rufus was quite dishonest however and fairly malevolent which makes me doubt the similarity to Locke.

Overall I suspect Jacob may have only been shown reading the book because the book typifies the dark traits of human nature. The foolishness, the selfishness, the ignorance. Apparently Flannery O'Connor tended to want to convey a moral in her stories and perhaps therein lies the significance. Jacob, based on his comments at the start of the season finale, tends to believe in the positive side of human nature and the book does leave the reader feeling on several occasions 'If so-and-so had only done this, nothing bad would have happened.'

That's what I got out of the book anyway. I'd be interested to hear what everyone else's thoughts are on the book's significance. :cool: