Question

Read the excerpt from Flannery O’Connor’s “The Life You Save May Be Your Own.” “It’s nothing so sweet,” Mr. Shiftlet continued, “as a boy’s mother. She taught him his first prayers at her knee, she give him love when no other would, she told him what was right and what wasn’t, and she seen that he done the right thing. Son,” he said, “I never rued a day in my life like the one I rued when I left that old mother of mine.” What is ironic about Mr. Shiftlet’s comments? He discusses his mother although he doesn’t seem to actually have a mother. He has picked up a hitchhiker who has run away from his mother. He speaks about morals after having just abandoned his wife at a roadside diner. He clearly has no regrets about having left his mother when he was a younger man.

Answer 1

He speaks about morals after just having abandoned his wife at a roadside diner.

Further Explanation:

Shiftlet is clearly an abomination of a man, and he employs the use of morals to justify his actions to his benefit. From the beginning of the novel, we clearly see that he did not have a conscience for he chose to marry a deaf and mute girl so that he could get hold of the car that her mother promised to give him, on the condition that he would marry her daughter. However, he soon hatches a devious plot of abandoning his helpless wife in a diner, so that he would be free from her, and he considered her as a burden to his freedom. His recitation of morality to the stranger moments after he dumped his helpless wife clearly reveals the irony that the author wishes to portray, for he believes that the decision he made was in accordance with his morals, and his mother’s teachings have shaped him to his personality. This is a clear contradiction of his moral character.

This is potent imagery used by the writer to demonstrate the nature of Mr. Shiftlet’s thoughts. He views the poor widow and her daughter only as a means to satisfy his desires and fulfill what he wants. Mr. Shiftlet’s ugly thoughts belong to a cruel world, however, his thoughts are what connected him to the present world. In a way, he is able to connect to the thoughts of Mrs. Carter, who is as rotten as himself, and decides to take advantage of her situation by agreeing to marry her daughter in exchange for a car. His monstrous thoughts are revealed in nature as he decides to abandon his mentally challenged wife at a restaurant.  

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Answer Details:

Grade: High school

Chapter: The life you save may be your own.

Subject: English.

Keywords: Thoughts, simile, imagery, cruelty, comparison, victim, greed, interests, hostile world, compassion, kindness.

Answer 2

Answer: He speaks about morals after having just abandoned his wife at a roadside diner.

Flannery O'Connor was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist. In her story "The Life You Save May Be Your Own," she tells the story of Shiftlet, a man who arrives to a farm, where he gets offered shelter in exchange for work. After insistence from the lady who owns the farm, he ends up marrying the woman's daughter, who is deaf and mute. After the wedding, the girl and Shiflet go on their honeymoon, and they stop at a diner to eat. The girl falls asleep at the table and Shiftlet leaves the diner, abandoning her. As he drives off, he picks up a hitchhiker, and this is where the dialogue appears. Shiftlet talks to the hitchhiker about how wonderful his mother was, and how important it is to appreciate mothers.

The scene is ironic because Shiftlet is discussing the importance of morality, and of how his mother taught him right from wrong, yet he just abandoned his wife at a diner, which is a clear contradiction and shows that his moral code is not the best.