"Everything That Rises Must Converge," "Theft," "That Tree" and other stories by Porter and O'Connor all have something in common....hats. Now, mind you, in the eras these two others were writing, hats were a common staple in everyday attire...but interestingly the hats mentioned in these stories are ugly hats. I could be way off base, but the hats seem to reflect the people they belong too, who are naive, or being judged in someway from the person observing the hat which is usually the main character. In "Everything That Rises Must Converge," the ridiculous hat floats upon the foundation of the story, that Julian's mother is ignorant...but in reality the hat stares right back at Julian as if it is saying, "listen buddy, you are the character in this story that is supposed to learn something....you are the one whose true person will be revealed in the end."
Aside from symbolism I am interested in the appearance and style of these so-called ridiculous hats that we see in these stories...what do they actually look like, aside from being bent strangely with sometimes funny colors?
Well I couldn't find an exact replica of Julian's mother's hat, but I did find perhaps one of the ugliest, strangely bent hats on the web, and a green-haired mannequin head to match. Cute huh?