Julian's mother takes a great deal of pride in her heritage, and that includes having ancestors who owned plantations and slaves. She does not wish to see harm come to black people, but she prefers that they rise, as she says, "'on their own side of the fence.'" She does not believe in desegregation, and she is racist, but O'Connor does not depict her as a cruel or heartless character. Julian, on the other hand, is cruel. He does things purposely to hurt his mother, and he takes pleasure in upsetting her. He treats black people as objects with which he can injure her—gleefully imagining her becoming deathly ill so that he can call a black doctor, or imagining her anger if he were to bring home a black woman—not as actual equals. He is cruel, very cruel, and this—in a way—makes him worse than she.
One of the ways that she justifies her expensive hat is by saying, "'I at least won't meet myself coming and going.'" She imagines that she will be unique in her special hat, but when she meets with the black woman, with her same hat, on the bus, there are signs that the shock is a bit too much for her. The
blue in [her eyes] seemed to have turned a bruised purple. For a moment he had an uncomfortable sense of her innocence, but it lasted only a second before principle rescued him. Justice entitled him to laugh. His grin hardened until it said to her as plainly as if he were saying aloud: Your punishment exactly fits your pettiness. This should teach you a permanent lesson.
His mother is unable to accept the modern world, and she eventually has a stroke as a result of the effects of her shock on her blood pressure. She is hurt, it seems, that this black woman is wearing a hat like hers because she thought it would make her special. Not only is she not unique, but she must share her position with a black woman: it's absolutely a deplorable and racist thought. It's not a mature or accepting stance, but it also isn't vicious; she does not wish for harm or violence. Julian, however, is absolutely vicious; he wants her to be taught a "permanent lesson," though it seems that he will be the one to learn such a lesson soon. While I may not agree with the idea that Julian's mother's racism is somehow less detrimental than his own, O'Connor seems to paint his mother as more "innocent" somehow—which even Julian recognizes—and Julian as more terrible and vicious and cruel.
Julian's mother has just bought a new hat and feels she has spent too much for it. When she and Julian are on the bus, a black woman soon aferwards gets on as well, wearing a purple and green hat identical to new hat his mother is wearing.
Julian's mother, like the other white people on the bus, is a racist. Julian knows she must be mortified, but his mother handles the situation by smiling at the black woman with gracious superiority. This enrages the black woman. Julian's mother continues to needle the black woman by being nice to her little son and commenting that the boy seems to like her. When they all get off at the same stop, Julian's mother tries to give the little boy a penny, despite Julian warning her not to. The black woman is so angry that she hits the mother with her purse, knocking her over.
Julian's mother has been trying to assert her racial superiority by acting as if she above the black woman and her little boy by acting the part of the gracious lady with smiles and pennies to bestow on an inferior. However, the identical hats show that she and the black woman are on the same level. They are both equally proud, and the black woman will not accept Julian's mother's racism.
Julian brutally tries to tell his mother that her behavior is unacceptable and that the world has changed. Rather than hear it, she has a stroke.
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