Religious Imagery in Flannery O'Connor's The Life You Save May Be Your Own

At the onset of the book, Young Tom has just been released from prison and is interested in making up for lost time and enjoying himself. He is a strong family support during the journey but is among the first to begin reaching out to a larger family. At the end he has focused on the plight and abuse of all the homeless farmers and recognizes that they must

Tom believes he is this woman’s hero. Throughout the story he sees himself protecting her from Stanley’s domination (Lessing 858). He feels he is not her harasser and that she must be aware of his love for her. His dreams of her have convinced him that meeting this woman is in his destiny. He doesn’t interpret her indifference as rejection as Stanley does and has no idea how he will suffer for it later. Far gone into his fantasy, Tom imagines the nearby crane aiding his heroic rescue of her.

The author continuously characterizes Tom Walker in a way that makes the readers pity and resent him to not want to follow the example of his life. For example, after Tom's wife takes all their valuables and tries to strike a bargain with the devil when Tom wouldn’t do it himself, he goes looking for her in the woods. Irving shows just how little Tom cared about his wife when he describes his reaction to her disappearance and death. He is more concerned about the safety of his silverware, which she had taken with her. "He leaped with joy; for he recognized his wife's apron, and supposed it to contain the household valuables.” That shows that he is really greedy and ruthless. However, Tom shows no remorse for his dead wife and has evidence that shows that his wife had beaten up even the

In the modern society of today, the weak and innocent are constantly oppresed by the amoral, and within the story of, "The Life You Save May Be Your Own" the essence of this innocence is depicted through the character of Ms. Lucynell Crater Jr. By using her life, along with Mrs. Lucynell Crater’s and Mr. Shiftlet’s, Flannery O’Connell illustrates the human condition and how we often put our morals to the side for our own self-centered gain.

Flannery O’Connor’s The Life You Save May Be Your Own is about a young man with good intentions, a girl that represents the innocence left in the world, and a mother that is selfish. He speaks of how corrupt the world is and how there are no good people left; he becomes a hypocrite when he conforms to the world and does the things he said he would never do. O’Connor writes this story to show that the world is degrading and there are hardly any genuine people left.

Symbolism is evident in many fictional and nonfictional works. However, it is rare for symbolism to have religious aspects. Flannery O’Connor is one author who is noteworthy for creating religious symbolism. O’Connor runs the gamut using crooked crosses, portraying a Mr. Shiftlet, and a purgatory, portraying a waiting room. In the story, “The Revelation”, Flannery O’Connor used religious symbolism through a waiting room, the character of Mary Grace, and the sun.

Shiftlet, and the old woman, Mrs. Crater, seem to both hold very selfish views of life. Mr. Shiftlet shows his true character in the end by abandoning the family, and demonstrating that he is simply a con, looking out for only himself. Mrs. Crater desperately wishes for a son-in-law, but her reasoning for this isn’t for her daughter, but to have a man around the house for herself. Therefore, the title is meant to be taken ironically and implies that selfishness serves no satisfaction, and that the goal in life should be to please others, not solely yourself. Even the deaf girl, Lucynell, represents this idea through her ideal innocence. The Life You Save May Be Your Own by Flannery O’Connor is a clear message against selfishness, which is clearly demonstrated by the characters and title chosen by the

In the middle of reading Out of Nowhere, it became clearer and easier to be imagine Tom in reality as an actual person. For instance in the passages, it was emphasized that soccer as an important part of his life and matters a ton in

“Toms eagerness to the quick, and prepared him to agree to anything rather than not gained the promised treasure.” For instance, “Tom brought him to business, they began to haggle on which the former was to have the pirate’s treasure.” This establishes how selfish Tom was also. “In this way he made money hand over hand; became a rich and mighty man, and exalted his cocked hat upon change.” Also, after all the greed and money he eventually he didn’t anything to do with it.

In this book, women was shown as the actively moral role in Uncle Tom’s Cabin. They often depicted as kind-hearted mothers, wives and guiding the whole book’s moral lights. This include Mrs.Shelby, St.Clare’s mother, and Legree’s mother. To compare with the kindness women, the author portrayals the men as selfish, indifferent, and have a weaker moral than the women. Nonetheless, Uncle Tom was an exception and like the female, he act the role of moral guide like sacrifice himself to help rescue Mr and Mrs George. Stowe shaping Tom's honest, trustworthy, and keeping himself in place which leads to his unchanged ending of death.

Tom’s need for attention and glory reaches an all-time peak when he deliberately chooses glory over the comfort and well-being of loved ones. During the night Tom sneaks off the island to his house, when he gets there Aunt Polly, Sid, Mary, and Mrs. Harper were there. Tom is hiding under Aunt Polly’s bed. They are grieving the loss of their loved ones. After their conversation ended, Twain writes.

We’re introduced to Tom as the ideal young man, talented on piano, prestigious schooling, engaged, his first major deceit. Worked his way into the graces of Mr. Greenleaf, entrusting him to pay for a free trip to Italy, to persuade his son to return home. Forming a naive trust with a stranger based on assumptions of similar status, convicted Tom would be a good influence on his son. Therefore, he and Tom appear to hold the same socially acceptable values and interest, while in reality being a hotel boy working to make ends-meat, living in a basement apartment. To be the polite boy of a good family, set to take over the family business and find a nice girl to marry. Until he encounters Dickie, given his life before is further seduction into his lifestyle, Because of money and status, Dickie is able to do as he pleases, including cheating on Marge, with whomever he wants. Having no concern for money, with an abundance of money comes the carefree life, hence Tom’s ease to gain both the Greenleafs’ trust.

Tom, Louisa's only beacon in her completely barren life, is another dismal and pathetic product of the Gradgrind philosophy of education. Self-centered and insensitive

Tom is a young and adventurous boy who often finds himself in trouble for his mischievous deeds and seldom does he listen to his aunt who always tells him to behave and grow up like the rest of the boys in the town. He finds amusement in everything, from disrupting a Sunday church meeting to going to a haunted house and finding treasure. Twain emphasizes on this adventure seeking nature through his multiple daring and unimaginable feats that earn Tom a strong reputation amongst the young boys of Hannibal who wished they could run off to Jackson Islands as well and enjoy the freedom that Tom did. Tom’s adventures however were dangerous especially when he and Huck went into the graveyard at midnight where Doctor Robinson was stabbed to death with much horror to the boys who witnessed it. “The boys moved off and disappeared in the gloom. At the end of half an hour they were wading through the tall

In the novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, the main character, Tom, experiences many unusual incidents that are not typically seen by a twelve-year-old boy. In the fictitious town of St. Petersburg, Tom lives with his aunt Polly, his half-brother Sid, and his friends Huckleberry “Huck” Finn, Joe Harper, and Becky Thatcher. Throughout the story, Tom witnesses the murder of Dr. Robinson, gets engaged to Becky Thatcher, and walks into his own funeral. Through all of these “adventures,” the author illustrates that a child matures when they accept the consequences of their actions.