Final answer:
Indirect characterization in 'Everything that Rises Must Converge' is illustrated through the mother's attitude towards her hat, reflecting her vanity and social insecurities without directly stating these traits.
Step-by-step explanation:
Indirect characterization is the process of describing a character through that character's thoughts, actions, speech, and dialogue. An author will use this type of characterization to guide the reader in making their own conclusions about a character.
Indirect characterization is a useful tool in illustrating a character. Often, what’s left unsaid or unstated creates an even more powerful image in the reader’s mind
An example of indirect characterization in Flannery O'Connor's short story Everything that Rises Must Converge occurs when the narrator describes Julian's mother's hat: "The ugly hat was the focus of all her displeasure in life; it represented her triumph and her failures." This quote doesn't explicitly describe the mother's character traits such as her vanity or her social insecurities, but rather allows the reader to infer these aspects of her character through her attitudes towards the hat. This is a classic case of showing rather than telling in literature, where the character's personality is revealed through their actions, thoughts, and possessions rather than through direct statements by the narrator or other characters.