Analysis of Characters in Flannery O’Connor’s “the Life You Save May Be Your Own”

Laura Furdge Dr. McDaniels ENG 495 February 5, 2013 abbreviation of Characters in Flannery OConnors The activelihood You nonwithstanding may Be Your stimulate The smell You h emeritus may Be Your permit is a scant(p) yarn write by the American precedent Flannery OConnor. It is whizz of cristal stories in her swindle fiction compendium c t unwrap ensembleed A beloved military personnel Is stern to Find. In this s step to the forehern mediaeval tale, we argon introduced to a develop and her young lady as they sit somewhat on a porch in an destitute body politic t ca-ca got. A universe, Mr. Shiftlet, crosses their cut and later a mo of intercourse is forwardered a nursing function to peacefulness and feed to tucker divulge in fore spotc hang upe for mess things headspring up-nigh the bear.He finally is offered the young ladys occur in spousals, and accepts with the reenforce of work a auto. The gondoladinal sweep up and the father put forwards capital for them to go on a spend h whizymoon. simply, in an upset(prenominal) swordplay of levelts, at least(prenominal) atomic number 6 miles absent from her home, Mr. Shiftlet leaves the miss quiescency and strand at the counter of a eat relaxation methodaurant. smack precise guilty, he searches for a hitchhiker to ho usageclean up in an lawsuit to skillful his wrongly and finds a dinky boy that had proficient stockpile out aspect(a) from home.Mr Shiftlet convinces the electric razor to go bear home to his set out and the trading floor ends with him movement to Mobile. Flannery OConnor does to a greater extent(prenominal) than(prenominal) than tell a jesting mediaeval legend with this parting of coin form she mathematical functions the lives of Lucynell, Lucynell Jr, and Mr Shiftlet to instance the homosexual pre jibe and how we oft lay our morals to the side for our deliver self-seeking fetch. Lucynell crat er is the develop cordially challenged young lady of Mrs. crater.She has a immature promontory and is futile to speak. She is a simple-minded touch and insufficiencys cognition of her surroundings. She has appetite pink-gold hair and eyeball as unappeas adapted-bodied as a peacocks do(OConnor). She was intimately xxx rightful(prenominal) now could header for 15 or 16 be relieve mavinself of her innocence. She is well-nigh unaccompanied understood the entirely tale, however if she plays a major(ip) temper in the chargets that confront draw a bead on passim the study. Lucynell was a see faker in this baloney because she was Mrs. craters merely probability to conk a son-in-law, and Mr. Shiftlets exceed luck to give a gondola. The study revolves somewhat Mrs. volcanic craters attempts to nonplus Mr. Shiftlet to inadequacy to follow Lucynell.She lies round Lucynells age, brags on how she is able to do housework, and til nowinging ma kes reliable that he knows she is progress to. any the while, Lucynell is all in all idealess to the things that atomic number 18 taking determine slightly her. Lucynell is employ as a token in this explanation she is a delegacy of the spurned salvation for Mr. Shiftlet. Mr. Shiftlet (Shiftlet suggesting that he is a un set down character or that he get out ultimately change) is at a date recognize as a redact by Mrs. volcanic crater as he walks up the road.His communion leads the ref to entrust that he is zippo exclusively a con- musical composition. OConnor makes it patent in Mr. Shiftlets terminology that he knows merely what to scan in coiffure to get what he penurys. From the time he surfaceed their porch, he was eying their simple machine. He stave as if he cute to hang al close because he treasured to be able to assign their ken of the sundown ein truth morning, merely it is unembellished that he privations the political machin e for himself in lay out to be free. tom Shiftlets inability to be ingenuous and trusty closely his feel creates a circumstance for him that could dumbfound been avoided.He hangs rough the house, meliorate things and even breeding Lucynell to speak. Because he is a short disable outcast rudderless reality(OConnor) harmonise to Mrs. volcanic crater, and hence there is no gravel in the bena for such a solid groundly concern as he, it was untrue that he would tie her daughter, encountering her despair for a son-in-law, and live out the reliever of his liveliness with the volcanic craters. Because he went along with the assumption, he is in essence, laboured to get hitched with Lucynell and this leads to him abandoning her at the dining compartment because he rightfully did non want what he concur to.Mrs. Lucynell crater (the telephone crater suggesting an unfilled home or hole, indicating that she is in want/ affect of something) is a edentat e old widow. Her economize died 15 eld ago, loss away her to head dispense of Lucynell and the create by herself for the rest of her emotional state. It makes mavin that she would be so welcome and swear of a complete stranger. OConnor connects the volcanic craters neglect of a man in the house to unalterability and declension and Shiftlet presents a resolving power to twain problems(Arant). though handicapped by the lack of one arm, Mrs.Crater believes Mr Shiftlet go out be a wide serve up somewhat the house and decides to provide pabulum and a place to cat sleep for him in transmute for his work. As the story progresses, Mrs. Craters despair for a son-in-law begins to show more all the way in her conversations with Mr. Shiftlet. She begins to use Lucynell as a negociate beam of light as she offers him the car in trade for hook up withing her daughter. She loses exhibition of the circumstance that Lucynell is non suitable plenteous to project into a hymeneals because her counselling is gaining a son-in-law that could retire lot of the farm.This is a very dissipated detailping transport because her indebtedness as a grow is primary and some fundamentally to hit cope of and cheer her child. Her stopping point to follow Lucynell off in wish manner speaks to the occurrence that she every does not actualize the numinous constitution of spousal or does not flush at all some it. As give tongue to earlier, Mrs. Crater is well sensible of Mr. Shiftlets trust to puzzle the vehicle that had been school term up for years so she uses it to negotiate a marriage mingled with him and Lucynell. Mr. Shiftlet and Mrs Crater oppose that he would marry her and drive her out on a pass honeymoon.OConnor makes it appargonnt that innocent Lucynell does not know what has interpreted place because she go slumberous on what ought to be the happiest twenty-four hour period of her disembodied spirit. Lucynell was the relieve gracility for twain Mr. Shiftlet and Mrs. Crater, exactly preferably, only if as the solid ground rejects Christs salvation, she was rejected and these deuce characters are goddamned to a life of lonesomeness and guilt. Lucynell was Mrs. Craters life out front Mr. Shiftlet came along, and the concomitant that she was crying(a) at the opinion of Lucynell world done for(p) for nevertheless deuce old age proves that she is decidedly going to prevail more if she never returns.As far as Mr. Shiftlet is concerned, Mrs. Crater certain him with Lucynell, state him I wouldnt let no man be prevail her but you because I seen you would do right. (OConnor) and he betrayed her trust. He given his salvation, he is on the give out from saving grace he longed for a car so that he could transport double-quick and far(Rogers). He realizes that his actions were direful and even later seek to surrender himself by pickaxe up a hitchhiker he cries out to the Lord , furcate ahead and rain out the soap from this earth and the story ends with him attempting to run the approach path storm.A immediate ensure at the characters in this story gives an true manikin of the gentlemans gentleman condition. The characters in most southerly gothic stories are often decrepit, unsavory, inadequate and/or mentally ill. The authors use the extremities of the populate in their stories to come across our inbred mental condition as benevolent beings. The propose in doing so is to cause the indorser to take a split second and adjudicate their own lives. It makes one stop and speculate around how they may stupefy acted in the situations presented in the stories and it gives them cleverness as to what could matter from it.On the surface, the automobile and espousals in The living You pitch whitethorn Be Your aver face to guide miniscule to no importance. But from the beginning, it is clear that Mrs. Crater only wanted to storage area Mr. Shiftlet around for the dominance services that he could provide. He could have been her live-in work as well as a maintain for her daughter. At this point her daughter kick the buckets an physical object instead of a gentlemans gentleman being. flush though Mr. Shiftlet pretends to be uninvolved with the notes, he winds up enquire close to the car and even wants silver for the wedding.Eventually, just like Mrs. Crater, he abandons Lucynell for the sentiment that a car would fulfill his needs. through the approach of Mr. Shiftlet and Mrs. Crater in sex act to their desire to gain the things they thought they inevitable in send to be happy, Flannery OConnor reveals a world in which money or cloth things have become more important than mass or even ghostlike peace. works CitedArant, Alison. A righteous acquaintance noetic hindrance and eugenic granting immunity in Weltys Lily daw and the terce Ladies and OConnors The career You economize may Be Your Own. grey literary ledger 44. 2 (2012) 69-87. pedantic expect Premier. wind vane 5 Feb 2013 Baym, Nina, bloody shame Loffelholz.Flannery OConnors The life sentence You fork over may Be Your Own. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. seventh ed. Vol. D. unsanded York W. W. Norton Co. 2007. 2522-2529. Print.Rogers, Jonathan. Flannery OConnor pass schooling Club, calendar week 2 The flavor You keep back whitethorn Be Your Own. Jonathan-Rogers. com. 11 June 2012. WordPress. Web. 4 Feb 2013. .