Answer:
Direct characterization refers to the description the author makes about a character in a straightforward manner. It can also be made by another character in the story. Whereas that indirect characterization refers to the subtle method the author utilizes to show a character personality. The reader can imply this by seeing his actions, choice of words and appearance.
In the story “Everything that Rises must Converge” by Flannery O’Connor, indirect characterization can be found throughout the entire text. For example, the way the author describes Julian implies that he was elitist and felt superior: "He preferred its threadbare elegance to anything he could name and it was because of it that all the neighborhoods they had lived in had been a torment to him..." Even though the author is not directly describing Julian, it is clear what kind of person he was. In the case of direct characterization, Julian’s mother description is a perfect example. When the author says: “Two wings of gray hair protruded on either side of her florid face, but her eyes, sky-blue, were as innocent and untouched by experience as they must have been when she was ten.” He is describing the mother without being indirect.