Flannery O’Connor, the author of the short story The Life You Save May Be Your Own uses many symbols throughout the short story, I chose Lucynell, and the automobile (car). Lucynell the first symbol, represents pureness, innocence and holiness. Lucynell represents pureness and innocence, “can’t sass you back or use foul language. That’s the kind of girl for you to have. Right there,” this quote is said by Lucynells mother, which indicates that Lucynell is a pure and innocent girl who is not been corrupted, instead she will fallow his orders. Another quote, which shows her innocence “ a large girl in a short blue organdy dress, saw him all at once and jumped up and began to stamp and point and make excited speechless sounds.” The way she behaves in this quote, reminds me of a little innocent child, jumping and making noise. The diner boy saw her holy, by saying “she looks like an angel of Gawd,” apparently Mr. Shiftlet did not because he abandoned her in “The Hot Spot” which can …show more content…
Carter said, “That car ain’t run in fifteen year,” like the automobile this quote, portrays that even if you stopped moving for some time, with some adjustment you can get moving again. The road sign said, “Drive carefully. The life you save may be your own.” This quote and it is also the title of the short story, shows to keep moving in life you have to keep safe, and choose the right decision, based on Mr. Shiftlet situation it is like a reminder to seek change anything he has done wrong, before he misses the chance of redemption. To sum this up, the automobile is important in the short story, because it shows that people keep moving on, the automobile shows Mr. Shiftlet’s final act of corruption by abandoning Lucynell, and she was his opportunity of salvation, but instead he took the automobile which he has set his eyes on for a while, Mr. Shiftlet went back empty, wandering
The play Mission of Mercy was written by Esther Lipnick. It was about a woman becoming a nurse. That woman's name was Florence. Florence Nightingale is many different things. But she is brave more than anything.
A “survivor car” is what the newspapers called it, did not stop such notice; gathering from the darkness a moment of miracle, and then disappear for the next bend. Michaelist wasn’t even sure of the facts – he told the press about the incident. The yellow car the one going toward new york, approximating beyond, hurried back to myrtle’s location, and abruptly change target to the nearest obstacle in the road, colliding in a big speed and intensity, surrounding the road with metallic parts of a wrecked car.
Another text by Bruce Dawe, ‘Abandonment of Autos’ suggests many ideas about consumerism. The poem is a response to the abandonment of a consumer item, a car. The quote “ It is the urban arab’s farewell to his steed” is used by Dawe to represent a man abandoning his car. The car is personified as the man’s steed which shows that the man treats and values the car well. The significance of this is that it portrays how people value their possessions more than family and friends. Another quote showing this idea is ‘final affectionate pat’ which shows the man patting the
As a result, Ajay seems to talk to his portrayal of God more than his family. The cars in the parking lot can represent Ajay and his desire to have people who give him more attention and love then his present situation. The cars “waited for an opening in the traffic, their brake lights glowing” which could represent Ajay waiting for the right timing or opportunity to focus on and change his path. Throughout the story, many moments imply that Ajay wants to change his life, such as his interactions with his family and his conversations with his portrayal of God. In a way, these moments are like the brake signals that glow when the cars are waiting for an opening to leave. Ajay is constantly wanting to break free from his current circumstances, but does not have the right timing and support.
The car is one of the most important elements that develops and supports the theme brotherhood. The car is a symbol that is meant to show Lyman and Henry’s close bond, and it holds the key to their definitive separation. The red convertible is also a symbol of success, and a connection to the white world for both Henry and Lyman “ I was
The car that Shiftlet voluntarily fixes is also a symbol for freedom, the moving spirit, but also how material objects can block mankind from God’s grace. Shiftlet first notices the beat up old car and offers to fix things up car when he says he can just sleep in the car like, “the monks of old slept in their coffins!” (O’Connor 678). Shiftlet not only does not care to sleep in the house with human company, but he also compares the car to a coffin. The car is a symbol of much more than freedom, like Shiftlet says when he compares a man’s spirit to an automobile, but also as a symbol of death. When discussing symbolism, Tom Deignan discusses how “Shiftlet responds, eerily linking the car to a symbol of death. Mrs. Crater then says ‘They wasn’t as advanced as we are.’ But Mrs. Crater’s response be ironic. By inserting the image of stoic, noble monks, O’Connor seems to be contrasting their lives of devotion with these two lives of greedy pursuit. The monks, within O’Connor’s value system, are perhaps more ‘advanced.’ Furthermore, Shiftlet’s desire for the car just might lead him to some sort of death” (Deignan 133). Because the theme is about finding what truly matters in life, O’Connor uses symbols to show the reader what does not matter and what does matter. She compares Shiftlet to Jesus Christ, but then at the end of the story sacrifices someone else for his own gain instead of
Marina Keegan’s title “Stability in Motion” is important to the purpose of the story. “Stability in Motion” describes her car. Her car is her “stability”, her “rock”, the thing that keeps her sane. Her car is also the “motion” because she finds her sanity inside of her car while she is driving, or when she is “in motion”. In paragraph 12 she says, “I talked a lot in my car. Thousands of words and songs and swears are absorbed in its fabric,” her car is her safe place that she can turn to whenever she needs time by herself. The purpose of “Stability in Motion” is to show how a relationship with an inanimate object, such as a car, can help a person through each day.
Once he circled around to end his nightly walk, “ he was within a block of his destination when the lone car turned a corner quite suddenly” then after the lone car “ flashed a fierce white cone of light upon him” (1). This event with Mr. Mead and the the lone car foreshadows that something is about to occur while he was on his way home from his routinely moonlit walk. After a conversation with the lone car,“ he passed the front window of the car he looked in. As he expected, there was no one in the front seat” (2). As the car started to drive down the dark streets only illuminated by the moon, Mr. Mead exclaimed “ that's my house, the car moved down the empty riverbed streets” (2). This foreshadows that even though he said that they passed his house, the self driving police vehicle continued to go down the street foreshadowing that Leonard Mead will not return home. This use of foreshadowing allows the audience to examine and reflect on how how technology has impacted this certain futuristic society with a great magnitude that Mr. Leonard Mead is seen as a completely different person for only being himself.
Henry returns from the war damaged not unlike the car after Lyman tries to destroy it. The relation ship between the brothers will never return to its previous state just as the car will never be the same. The car now comes to signify the change in the brother’s relationship. When Henry drowns himself in the river, Lyman lets the car go with them. Henry knows life will never be the same and neither will his feelings about the car. The car will now only trigger the raw emotions of his brother’s transformation and his death, instead of the carefree life he once had with a close brother. The car comes to symbolize death and the death of the close relationship between the to brothers. When Lyman lets go of the car, he is also letting go of his innocence.
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.
The characters in this short story have an object which they seem to both enjoy and use to bond with one another by taking trips. Erdrich, uses the car as a symbolism of the bond that the Lamartine brothers share. The trips that both brothers went on were full of adventure and joy and much of that joy came from having the car and
others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it.” My precept is that it lies at the heart of all
I choose to interpret the representation of cars in The Haunting of Hill House. In this novel, a car is first represented as a means of control over Eleanor by her sister (Jackson 7). However, Eleanor’s stealing of the car transforms the car into a representation of freedom from her present life (Jackson 10). The car allows Eleanor to be free of her controlled life and to begin her own journey (Jackson 10). We observe the same car at the conclusion of the novel as a device used to free herself from her forced departure of Hill House (Jackson 178). She uses the car to commit suicide, allowing her to stay at Hill House indefinitely (Jackson 182). I argue that in the novel the car is utilized for control
As Mr. Shiftlet is about to arrive at Mobile he starts having visions. He sees Lucynell waking up and confused. He also sees her freaking out, which led her to having seizures. Mr. Shiftlet suddenly comes back to reality by a horn, it was the horn of a semi that was about to collide with him. Mr. Shiftlet froze in the headlights with visions. These visions were different than before, this time they were of his mother and father. They were screaming at each other and Mr. Shiftlet’s father pulled out a gun. He pointed the gun towards his wife and shot then turned the gun around and killed himself.
Karl Benz invented the first automobile in 1866; it has changed the world in how we commute every day. From riding in carriages to now cutting our time travel whether it is riding a bus or our on car. It has become more of a necessity in today's world to have a car because its something that we choose to have in our daily life that it is a choice that is high on the priority list to own. As to wealthier people the type of car you drive puts in a different class. Where some get the choice of car that they want others have a certain budget on what to look for. The way an automobile symbolizes today, changed in society, and how a car has become a collection.