The Life You Save May Be Your Own Short Story Analysis

The True Meaning of Life What brings you true joy? Is it family and friends, a religion, or some material item? In the short story, â€Å"The Life You Save May Be Your Own,† Flannery O’Connor gives examples of what can bring Tom Shiftlet joy, but what he chooses instead. A tramp, Shiftlet, wonders to the Crater house in search of a job. Mrs. Crater knows she needs her farm fixed up, so she allows Shiftlet to sleep in the car and will feed him if he fixes things at the house. Mrs. Crater tries to pawn her daughter, Lucynell, off on Shiftlet. Shiftlet is offered the car he fixed, a place to live, and $17.50 just to marry Lucynell. Shiftlet finally agrees and accepts the bribe. On their honeymoon, Shiftlet leaves Lucynell at a diner and moves†¦show more content†¦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 ca r and offers to fix things up car when he says he can just sleep in the car like, â€Å"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 â€Å"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 ofShow MoreRelatedThe Life You Save May Be Your Own1122 Words   |  5 PagesWhat if you were given a chance to start over and do things differently? To make up for your mistakes, right your wrongs? This idea is featured as a theme in Flannery O’Connor’s short story â€Å"The Life You Save May Be Your Own†, published in the 1953 Spring issue of The Kenyon Review (Kenyon College). The story is about a homeless man by the name of â€Å"Shiftlet† who approaches an isolated, run-down farm where â€Å"Mrs.Crater† and her mentally retarded daughter â€Å"Lucynell† lives. 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