The Life You Save May Be Your Own Short Story Analysis

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.

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

In Pinckney Benedict’s 2008 short story “Mercy,” the narrator and his father both take pride in their family’s ranch. The narrator works hard for his father each day, taking breaks only to sneak treats to the miniature horses being kept on the neighbor’s ranch nearby. The narrator’s father; however, does not show the same compassion for the animals as his son. He is adamant about keeping the horses off of his land and warns his son that he will shoot to first to intrude. The narrator views his father in a very austere manner.

“The Life You Save May Be Your Own”, is a story which reflects on each and every one of us. The main themes expressed in this story are corruption, the lost innocence, and how we become aware of our errors yet seldom do much to correct ourselves. This final theme is best shown through Mr. Shifflets actions. Mrs. Crater is a great example of the first theme mentioned. Even though she had just met a stranger, after listening to him and his beliefs for a short while, she let him into her home, but for what reasons? Was it an act of kindness? No, it was clearly an act of selfishness. She used Mr. Shifflets skills as a carpenter to fix her home, and the car, and used her own daughter to pull him in. Those actions are the epitome of greed and corruption. Mrs. Carters daughter, Lucynell, is the savior, the “angle of Gawd”, as referred to in the story, and is a great symbol used by the author, Flannery O’Connor, to express the purity and innocence we have in ourselves, which tends to be lost through the corruption.

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.

The poem “The Sacred” uses a special metaphor in order to describe the journey of life. The author uses a car that signifies the beginning of new journey through life. A new beginning to start with no second thoughts. “A car could take him from the need. To speak, or to answer, the key, In having a key, and putting it in, and going”. Here the author describes how the student will take the this key, or what could be described as a decision that was made by the student. This student is taking this key or decision, putting it into the car, or a new beginning to life. The definite decision of a student to set forth himself to begin a new chapter in his or her life. In the poem, “Vegetarian Physics” we are also introduced to unique symbolism used by the author. Here the author decided to use tofu and a frigidaire in order to symbolize what could be

Shiftlet’s materialistic views of the world cause him to use people in order to obtain the things he wants. He meets a nice family that allows him to stay with them in exchange for fixing up little things about the house, and takes advantage of that because they have something that he wants. Pure greed is all one can use to describe Mr. Shiftlet. He marries a young, deaf girl so he can please her mother and she can give him the car. He leaves the deaf girl, now his wife, at a diner who cannot even take care of herself and drives away without looking back. Many Americans’ infatuation with materialistic items such as money, power, and in this case, a car, blinds them from knowing right from wrong and provokes them to do immoral things to get what they want. Mr. Shiftlet’s thoughtlessness causes him to make impulse decisions in this story and in time karma returns the favor, proving that one’s greed and selfishness leads to questionable

Reality television shows have been a craze in America over the last few years. Shows like Survivor, Big Brother, The Bachelor, Fear Factor have been flooding the channels. Survivor is not only flooding the channels, but also stands out in its context and its ability to survive the ratings. Survivor is a reality game show, where sixteen contestants are dropped on an island or a desolate location and have to learn to survive in nature and the elimination votes of their fellow castaways. A show generally consists of one award challenge where the two different teams compete for an award and an immunity challenge where they see which team has to go to tribal council to vote a member off. The challenge these contestants must endure is "how to

The story “The Life You Save May Be Your Own” is written by an American writer and essayist called Flannery O’Connor, who is an important figure for the American literature. The origin of the author is from the southern part of America and most of the time she uses the Southern Gothic style. Very often she relies on the grotesque characters, just like Mr. Shiftlet in this story. The author describes the protagonist as a humorous character, despite his tries to look as a smart guy, his southern accent and the things he says make no sense; qualities that turn him into the humorous character he is.

Tim O'Brien was right when he said “Stories can save us”. They saved him. Writing stories helped Tim turn into Timmy and also into a solider when he was retired and forty three years old. When O'Brien says “Stories can save us”: he lets us know that his stories helped him through the war, they also helped him stay psychologically relaxed after the war, and helped him create better versions of his memories as Timmy and Tim the soldier.

For instancw, the automobile symbolizes selfishness. When he completed his first work week, clearly “Mr. Shiftlet pointed out that the reason he had improved this plantation was because he had taken a personal interest in it. He said he was even going to make the automobile run” (O’Connor 862). The automobile represented freedom and escape for Shiftlet. It was the first thing he saw when he arrived and he realized that he had to comply with Mrs. Crater in order for him to get it. He willingly repaired the automobile for his “honeymoon” with Lucynell. In fact, literary critics say Mrs. Crater recognized “the automobile as the source of Mr. Shiftlet’s interest” (Arant). Towards the ending of the short story, O’Connor uses the storm to suggest selfishness. When Shifltet traveled the road after leaving young Lucynell, “…there was guffawing peal of thunder from behind and fantastic raindrops, like tin can tops, crashed over the rear of Mr. Shifltet’s car. Very quickly he stepped on the gas and…he raced the galloping shower into Mobile” (O’Connor 867). The storm represented depression and regret for Shiftlet, but he did not return to get young Lucynell. It was dark and it followed him, however the automobile still represented freedom and escape. Because of Shiftlet’s selfishness, he continued to ride through the strom. He then had what he wanted all along. Thus, O’Connor’s use of symbols represent

Flannery O’Conner is a phenomenal female author who wrote several stories in the mid-1900s before she passed away. One of her famous stories, “The Life You Save May Be Your Own,” represents people who have untrusted or discreet souls. In this story, O’Conner uses the streets as a symbol of Tom Shiftlet’s “home”. She signifies Tom in several ways to express the nature of his character. O’Conner also portrays Tom’s characteristics as mischievous and accommodating.

“The Life You Save May Be Your Own,” by Flannery O’Connor, is a story of hope for humanity. To make way for hope O’Connor often uses tornado imagery in her writing as the cyclonic shape relating the smallness of humanity at the bottom of the shape to the grandness of Heaven represented by the wide top of the vortex. In “Break forth and wash the slime from this earth!” O’Connor’s Apocalyptic Tornadoes, Anne Elizabeth Carson, shows the recurrence of tornados in O’Connor’s work is more than coincidence. Carson states O’Connor checks the sins of pride, vanity, and cruelty with her tornadic version of the four horsemen of the apocalypse (19). The mighty cyclone imagery represents the reset of O’Connor’s characters allowing a second chance for

Shiftlet identifies all the repairs that need done around the house, but more importantly has his eye on the prize. A 1928 or '29 Ford. After taking a glimpse the car, he promotes himself as a strong sophisticated man and talks about how tragic the world is now in days. The woman doesn’t realize he is actually speaking about himself, but he wants her to believe he is an exceptional man. This way he can con her of any money she has and to take the car he had rebuilt to carry on his journey to Mobile.

Short stories can share themes, motifs, symbols, consequences, and plot lines, even if there is never any intention to share a common element between the stories. The stories can be written close together or in different decades and still be linked to the one another. They can also be worlds apart with different meanings in the end, but that does not stop them from having similar ideas expressed within them. The following three stories, “Lagoon” by Joseph Conrad, “The Rocking Horse Winner” by DH Lawrence, and “The Lady in the Looking Glass” by Virginia Woolf, are three totally different stories that share common threads that make them the stories that they are.