The Life You Save May Be Your Own Theme

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.”

(146) In order to emphasize his humility and goodness, Tom has been cast as a ?one-arm jackleg? (as he so eloquently puts it). He is a carpenter, ably fixing up the Crater property. He performs the miracles of reviving Mrs. Crater?s long-dead Ford (the religious connection reinforced by O?Connor?s characterization of his expression ?as if he had just raised the dead? [151]) and teaching deaf and mute daughter Lucynell to say the word ?bird?. He eschews modern man?s obsession with money and claims that he has a ?moral intelligence? despite his physical shortcomings. By emphasizing his focus on the spiritual nature of life, Tom succeeds in marrying the daughter and receiving money from Mrs. Crater.

In Flannery O’Conner’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” there were reasons why the Misfit, the wanted prisoner, killed the grandmother, the selfish prominent character. Although she did not want to travel in the direction the Misfit was headed, her selfish decisions led her and her family in an unfortunate accident which led them to be approached by the Misfit. His psychological instability, his moral code and being recognized by the grandmother ultimately led to her demise.

Flannery O’Connor uses his description of characters to show that people are not who always who they say they are. When we start reading the story we are introduced to Mrs. Hopewell, who is the mother to Joy/Hulga, who is stuck up and thinks that she is superior to everyone else and is an independent woman. She is a patronizing woman that does not care about anybody except for herself. She is a rude lady that is two faced when it comes to new people that she is meeting. Then we meet Joy who is thirty-two-year-old woman with a doctor's degree in Philosophy, who changed her name to Hulga at the age of twenty-one, she lives at home with Mrs. Hopewell because she has health conditions that have to deal with her heart and she needs to be taken care of. Also, with her health conditions she has a fake leg that got shot off in a hunting accident. Hulga always thought of herself superior to everyone because she had a doctor's degree and because she went to school to get an education. She thought that she could outsmart everyone that she lives with because she reads many books and has a lot of knowledge. Next is Manley Pointer, who is a traveling Bible salesman, he is portrayed as a good country folk with good intentions. He plays an act and tricks everyone into thinking that he is a nice and kind person, but him selling Bibles and believing in God is what catches Hulga’s and Mrs. Hopewell's attention because Hulga does not believe in anything but Mrs. Hopewell does believe in God. Lastly, we have Mrs. Freeman, who has worked for Mrs. Hopewell for the past few years because her husband is the farmer. The story does

Deceitful,dishonest, disloyal: these words describe the shady characters presented in “The Life You Save May Be Your Own,” by Flannery O’ Connor. In this short story, Shiftlet tries to con an old lady in order to obtain her automobile. By this , the man drives away from his salvation due to his selfishness and hypocritical personality. O'Connor master uses of dark humor reveals to the reader the truth that lays underneath the words of Shiftlet. The beautiful use of color blends with the dark sense of humor by foreshadowing the tragic events that in consequence happens when having a sinful personality. With the punchline at the end, the reader soon sees O’Connor message behind the rain clouds by deciphering the man actions in relation with the stormy weather. O'Connor warns what happens when we try to escape redemption by the use of color that represents every aspect of the story, the representation of symbols to reveal the personality of Shiftlet, and the dark humor that drives the story.

Flannery O’Connor was an American author who often wrote about characters who face violent situations. These situations force the characters into a moment of crisis that awakens or alters their fate. Her short stories reflect her Roman Catholic faith and frequently discuss questions of morality and ethics. O’Connor’s Catholic upbringing influenced most of her short stories, often accumulating criticism because of her harsh portrayal of religion. O’Connor incorporates the experience of a moment of grace in her short stories to contribute to the meaning of her works and to represent her faith.

At the end of the story, the grandmother only pleads for her life and never for her son Bailey or his family. “You wouldn’t shoot a lady, would you?” (O’Connor 192).The mother never showed no remorse of her son’s death even after the other two men came back with Bailey’s shirt and then took his wife and daughter. She never pleaded for the men to stop and spare their lives. The daughter June Starr selfish characters are observed when she believes her way of living is right by stating to Red Sammy’s wife “I wouldn’t live in a broken-down place like this for a million bucks! (O’Connor 189). For a very young girl she carried an arrogant attitude that was never fixed by her parents.

independence to become her own woman in her own way, and does not want to give up

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.

As mentioned in a Frontline interview with Gawande about Being Mortal, life’s two ‘unfixables’ are aging ang dying ("Dr. Atul Gawande On Aging, Dying And "Being Mortal"). Despite this well-known fact, most physicians and patients alike are overwhelmed by the concept of death. Moreover, in times of medical crisis, terminally ill patients allow themselves to be given “the medical equivalent of lottery tickets” in the hopes of making a miraculous recovery (Gawande 171). The allowance of end-of-life decisions to be controlled by the concepts of medicine or technology is a dangerous path which shows a lack in pragmatism regarding death (Sinclair). Although the overall avoidance of the

O'Connor's typical use of violence and humor in her literary work broadens the characterization of the grandmother and the misfit throughout her story. She uses these elements in an effort to establish the characterization of her two main characters through the many

O’Connor also focuses on contrasting characters in her story to bring the plot along, for example the conflict in the story is between Mrs. May and Mr. Greenleaf, two almost completely opposite characters. Mrs. May is shown as a bitter character who blames others for her problems, although most are self-inflicted. Such as how she hired Mr. Greenleaf for fifteen years although she obviously hates him, or how she ends up raising bitter and cruel sons who treat her with no respect. On the other hand the Greenleaf’s is simple, although uneducated, but manages to raise two successful sons, unlike Mrs. May’s. However, Mrs. May looks down on Mr. Greenleaf because she feels he is inferior to her in social standing and intelligence. . For example when she went to O.T. and E.T.’s farm and saw their milking parlor, she decided automatically that they were paid for the Government and the boys didn’t work for it. Mrs. May says how “I would have to do it myself. I am not assisted hand and foot by the Government.” This illustrates how Mrs. May still thinks less of the Greenleafs, even if they have a better farm then her because she thinks they did not gain it themselves, that it was instead paid for by the Government. The Greenleaf boys have a better working farm then her, and therefore are a little higher than her in

O’Connor employs the grandmother’s selfish and manipulative character to reveal the true definition of justice. In the very beginning of the short story, the grandmother’s real nature evinces through her actions. The

Upon initially reading Flannery O’Connor’s work, one would have no problem recognizing her use of shocking, violent, or despairing themes. It may not be as easy, however, to completely accept or understand her style. According to Patrick Galloway, one must be “initiated to her trademarks when reading any of her two novels or thirty-two short stories (1).In many of her works, she paradoxically uses styles that are grotesque and brutal to illustrate themes of grace and self-actualization. As O’Connor herself says, “I have found that violence is strangely capable of returning my characters to reality and preparing them to