The Life You Save May Be Your Own Point Of View

Shiftlet is so desperate to escape the responsibility of marriage that he is willing to showcase his more materialistic side, in hopes of making himself undesirable or seemingly unfit for that type of commitment. Another example of symbolism in this story is the title itself. Although he does not realize it, Tom has stumbled across the old woman’s farm because fate brought him there for a specific reason; he is given the choice of helping these people and possibly “saving” their lives, or saving his own life (in his eyes, his freedom). “In Mrs. Crater and Lucynell, Shiftlet is presented with an opportunity for a real sacrifice, an opportunity to love unlovable people. Shiftlet refuses it in order to remain free and mobile...Shiftlet is trying to save his own life - while he is given the chance to at least improve Lucynell’s or Mrs. Crater’s.” (Ragen). Just from the very first description of Tom, the readers could sense he may not be the most reliable or trustworthy person, but they also secretly hope that, as the story moves along, he will become a better person and realize his full potential as a husband and caretaker. The symbolism of the story’s title immediately gives the audience an idea that something is at risk here, and while the obvious answer is Mrs. Crater’s and Lucynell’s lives, Tom believes the answer is his version of life: freedom.

Lucynell Crater, an old woman, and her thirty-year-old, deaf daughter, also named Lucynell Crater live in a run-down house that needs to be repaired. One day a man who calls himself Tom T. Shiftlet stops and offers to fix the house and Lucynell’s car. Lucynell explains that she has no money to pay him, but he can eat and sleep in the house for free. Mr. Shiftlet fixes parts of the house and begins to work on the car. Mrs. Crater and Tom come to agreement that Tome will marry Lucynell. Tom, Lucynell and Mrs. Crater go to the court house and finalize the marriage. Tom and Lucynell take off in the car for their honeymoon. They stop to eat for the night and Lucynell falls asleep at the table. Tom Shiftlet tells the waiter that she was a hitch hiker and he needs to take off. Mr. Shiftlet leaves Lucynell at the restaurant and takes off with her mother’s car. As he drives away, he passes a sign that says, “The life you save may be your own.”

“Tuesdays with Morrie” and “The Death of Ivan Ilych” both portray a character who is dealing with a serious terminal illness and advance knowledge of their deaths. One story is based on the realistic life of an American professor with the story’s characteristics tone from the 1990’s while the other is set during nineteenth century Russia. Even though Morrie Schwartz and Ivan Ilych both suffered from the illness, their dissimilar lifestyles and beliefs led to different perspective on facing death. One views the knowledge as a blessing and an opportunity to share his life experiences before making his final good-byes, the other agonizes in pain and begs for an

Should people put the value of life into monetary value or should life be kept solely as an emotional quantity? People and societies throughout the ages have been trying to answer the problem of putting the value of life into terms of dollar bills. The ancient Egyptians buried their dead with all of their worldly belongings. They believed a person’s monetary worth on Earth was over, and they should take all of that earthly worth with them to the afterlife. Modern day Americans are different from the Egyptians. Today people believe that the families of the dead should be compensated for “their” loss.

Flannery O’Connor uses several devices in her short story, “The Life You Save May Be Your Own”. Of these devices, symbolism and situational irony are prominent throughout the story. O’Connor uses these two devices in her story, showing many examples of each.

This case surrounds the controversy brought about by the Arizona state legislature defunding life-saving organ transplant operations. In 1987, the Arizona state legislature voted to eliminate funding for most organ transplants for the indigent through the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS). At the same time of this decision, the legislature voted to extend health coverage to pregnant women and children in a “notch group.” The public controversy began when Dianna Brown died after being denied coverage for a liver transplant that would have saved her life. After her death, there was wide spread

Flannery O’Connor’s short story The Life You Save May Be Your Own, takes place in a rural area with a few powerful main characters, and though the literal meaning is not challenging to comprehend, the symbolic and metaphorical meanings are much more complex, requiring further analysis. One of the most touching and relatable themes in the story is that redemption is often overlooked because of personal greed.

A Life or Death Situation, by Robin Marantz Henig, New York Times, July, 2013, is a review of the debate surrounding the right to a dignified death. It examines the purely philosophical view of the issue; as well as the heart wrenching reality of being faced with that question in one 's personal life. Does a person have a right to choose how he or she dies? How does that choice impact the people who care about about him or her? Should a person who cares about someone be required to cause or aide in his or her death? These questions weigh heavy on the minds of many people, who live

Authors often depict their characters in a story through direct and indirect characterization. Direct characterization is simply portrayed through the author or speaker of the story stating actual facts of a character, such as, “She was kind and plump.” In the case of indirect characterization, many authors will use the dialogue of other characters of the mannerisms and actions of the character to display them. This is exemplified by the following: “Lucille then grabbed her napkin for fear of appearing messy.” These different types of characterization are used together and a part. These character identities are often what bring about the end of a character in a story, the demise or the survival. In Flannery O’Connor’s short story, “The Life you Save May Be Your Own,” she relates the title, different types of characterization, and the plot to bring about the end to each character, while much of this end can be assumed or found out by the reader. There are three major characters in “The Life you Save May be Your Own,” they are Mrs. Crater, Lucynell, and Mr. Shiftlet. Mr. Shiftlet is given a name very appropriate for his character, as he is very shifty. Lucynell is recognized for her innocence, which the dainty and little-girl-like name display. Last, is Mrs. Crater, who is also recognized for her name because of her momentous acts throughout the story, which could be referred to as a

Religion is a big influence in Flannery O 'Connor 's writing. “The Life You Save May Be Your Own” stresses the idea of good and evil. This can also be viewed at the evil in Christ. The story is set in the early 1900s. “The Life You Save May Be Your Own” begins with a woman and her disabled daughter sitting on their porch and she notices a man walking towards their home. The man, Mr. Shiftlet, sees an old car that he wants. The old woman, Lucynell, is also craving something and takes the opportunity to achieve it. By her use of symbols, imagery, and irony, she reveals that there is corruption within Christ.

Crater and her daughter, lives. Lucynell, a girl who cannot talk and cannot hear properly, is taken care of by Mrs. Crater. Mrs. Crater persuades Tom Shiftlet to work for their farm and to repair their car and tells him that she is able to feed Tom but is unable to pay him with money. As some time passes, Tom fixes the car and does some significant amount of work. Mrs. Crater offers Tom to marry Lucynell and Tom agrees in the condition that he gets some money. Lucynell and Tom Shiftlet go on a honeymoon, and during their travel they visit a small restaurant where Tom abandons Lucynell. As he travels, feeling lonely, he picks up a hitchhiker. He talks to the boy about being good, but the boy curses and gets out of the car. After the boy gets out the car Tom starts to pray to god as he seems to drive to run away from someone or

Survival is being able to endure and live through challenges that may wear you down (mentally or physically), and there are several ways of showing survival. “The Story of Keesh,” by Jack London, depicts survival through a harsh setting. “The Five People You Meet In Heaven,” by Mitch Albom, depicts survival through character development. In sum, the idea of survival is shown in literature through these two different ways.

Life changing events can sometimes be difficult. In the stories “I Never Had it Made,” By Jackie Robinson Warriors Don’t Cry By Melba Patillo Beals and “The Father of Chinese Aviation.” By Rebecca Maskel. Melba Beals, Jackie Robinson, and Feng Ru all experienced life changing events that impacted their lives. If you did not know these people went through danger to break segregation. Melba Beals and Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier by playing on a white ball team and going to a white school as blacks.

Though our society has adapted and developed, inequality remains prevalent all around the world. Our society assigns value to human live based on ethnicity and gender. Currently around the world there are over 30 million slaves in which 60,000 are in the United States. Even though slavery has been abolished in nearly every country many people still measure the value of individuals in cents and dollars. Should life be calculated in terms of money? How should we as a society assign value to a persons life? I personally believe that you can't assign a price to someones life and you shouldn’t It’s both politically and morally unjust.

The abstract idea of life cannot be explained by such simple ideas as being animated, breathing, or speaking. Ordinary machines in this century can perform all of these basic functions. The quandary with defining death is not as abstract and elusive as that of life. The problem of defining life and death has plagued philosophers and the religious bodies for thousands of years for one reason; each philosophy or religion has tried to define the meaning of life and death from only their certain perspective. The seemingly appropriate approach to this problem would be to understand the ideas presented in various philosophies and religions and through this knowledge create a new definition for each idea of life