Analysis

The life you save may be your own" by Flannery O'connor and "everyday use" by Alice Walker

Flannery O'connor

The world today has mysterious ways of working its magic. The world was blessed when Flannery O'Connor was born, in Savannah, Georgia on March 25, 1925. Flannery O'Connor was the only child of Edward Francis O'Connor and Regina Cline O'Connor

The life you save may be your own by Flannery

Flannery O'Connor's style of southern gothic writing, with her background of Christianity, collaborates for some controversial and unorthodox symbolism. In her short story The Life You Save May Be Your Own, O'Connor incorporates numerous symbols to emphasize her theme. O'Connor's use of symbolism filters into the names and traits of her characters, the dimensions of her setting, and the events of her plot.

Mr. Shiftlet is a man who doesn't know what he wants. Throughout the story, his views on life vary from righteous to self-absorbed. In the beginning of the story, he preaches to mother Lucynell about the evil of the world, citing how doctors can cut out a human heart and still know nothing about it. He claims that money holds no importance and that the simple life is the only thing worth merit. As he gains the trust of the Lucynells, he eventually marries the deaf daughter, Lucynell. Her innocence is all that the Mr. Shiftlet needs. Once married, Mr. Shiftlet shifts his view on life, abandons the girl at a café, and convinces himself that the automobile he reconstructed, is now his happiness. After leaving the café, he picks up a hitchhiker, obviously running away from home. Mr. Shiftlet returns to his modest view of life preaching about his mother and how he wishes he were still with her. Mr. Shiftlet's tendency to change his views is an example of O'Connor using ...