Doing What It Takes
"The Life You Save Mat Be Your Own," the story of a drifting man who meets an old woman and her daughter, is a very interesting piece by Flannery O'Connor. The old woman, Lucynell Crater and her daughter, also Lucynell Crater, live by themselves, and one day Mr. Shiftlet, the drifter, appears on their front porch. This story tells about how their relationship grows all together and very effectively uses symbolism to explain the characters intentions. Through O'Connor's symbolism we see what all the characters have in mind and it is shown through their thoughts and actions. Although Lucynell Crater, the mother, and Mr. Shiftlet seem to be very polite and generous, O'Connor provides us with a window that helps us see more clearly, the intentions on both Mrs., Crater's and Mr. Shiftlet's parts.O'Connor describes Mr. Shiftlet to be a very nice and generous man, looking for a place to stay in return for his work. His actions, for the most part, show us his good intentions and lead us to believe that he is a good person. Yet, while his actions mostly portray good aspects, O'Connor uses symbolism to sneak in the true meaning behind Mr. Shiftlet. "His left coat sleeve was folded up to show there was only
O'Connor's use of symbolism helps us by providing a window so that we can see into the story and the characters to find out what is really going on. By only looking at the outside the ending would be very confusing, but since she gave us hints towards the fishy things, the ending was clear and still also a surprise. Perhaps the hasty moral judgment in which Mr.Shiftlet blocked the meaningful relationship he was creating helped him cope with his decision to take advantage of the Craters. O'Connor used Mr. Shiftlet's arm, the car, Lucynell's deafness and the mother's desire for something better, to show us that deep down everyone has a plan for what they want. It's all just a matter of doing what it takes... would be a good idea to paint it too,' Mr. Shiftlet remarked. 'You don't want it to rust out.'" (O'Connor 55) Mr. Shiftlet tries to convince Lucynell that he wants to paint it to prevent rust, but it sounds as if he has other plans. In the end we see Mr. Shiftlet's true intentions. He left Lucynell for the car. All he had to do was fix the car itself and do some work around a plantation. 47) O'Connor uses his disability to show us that he isn't normal. Normal people have two arms and Mr. Shiftlet did not, so something is "wrong" with him. He isn't normal. "'...there ain't a broken thing on this plantation that I couldn't fix for you, one-arm jackleg or not. I'm a man,' he said with a sullen dignity, 'even if I ain't a whole one.'" (O'Connor 53) We see here that Mr. Shiftlet is capable of doing normal things so this lea
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1044
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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