Flannery O'Conner

A detailed Summary of Flannery O'Conner

Flannery O'Connor's story, "The Life You Save May Be Your Own", illustrates in words the importance of sticking to your roots through a man of deception who is hypercritical to this idea. It seems since Mr. Shiftlett was born in the royal south, he does not know how to put his responsibilities together, and he doesn't seem to have any priorities in his life. He is a carefree man who goes from place to place trying to find jobs where he may be able to hustle someone out of something. There are many instances in this story that show Mr. Shiftlett only goes to Crater's to hustle a poor woman out of her money and car. Mr. Shiftlett has a deceptive personality that is even conjured up in his name, "shifty".

Mr. Shiftlett does not seem to have his priorities together. He comes to Mrs. Crater's home looking for a carpenter job. While talking to Mrs. Crater, he starts scoping out her home with his "pale sharp glance" (pg125). he notices the car, which might as well have been a pot of gold the way he was mesmerized with it. Just as Shiftlett is eyeing the car, Mrs. Crater has been sizing him up from the start as a potential son-in-law. Shiftlett knows this, however, and plays it as his trump card for the rest of the story. He's

Upon hearing the goodies he'll get in return for marriage, he perks up a bit. His smile, "Stretched like a weary snake waking up by a fire" (pg129), shows how this man is a snake. All his life he has felt, and probably been treated, inadequate. He has learned to get along and make up for his inadequacies at the expense of others. Mr. Shiftlett is really kidding himself with all of his moralistic sayings and lectures. As Christ practiced what he preached, Shiftlett does just the opposite. And even though he knows he's spewing out a bunch of garbage, Shiftlett has probably convinced himself that taking advantage of others to get where he's going requires trickery and deception.

Shiftlett hangs around the place serving as a sort of Bob Villa, fixing things up and sleeping in the car at night. Interestingly, Shiftlett teaches Lucynell to say the word "bird". As a drifter more than anything Shiftlett values his freedom, much like a bird for he goes anywhere he pleases. Shiftlett's conscience would probably be way too heavy for him if he couldn't just pick up and leave whenever he pleases. This makes Shiftlett able to say things that he might feel is right, but is able to do the exact opposite. As the story progresses, Shift

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Approximate Word count = 835
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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