Summary Of The Life You Save May Be Your Own By Flannery O Connor

The Life You Save May Be Greedy
Selfishness is an act that has been around for years and is quite common among people today. Normally, this characteristic is shown when an individual put their goals, priorities, and needs before anyone else. Even those who are in need of extra assistance are often overlooked. In this case, Flannery O'Connor's “the life you save may be your own,” has characters which meet the criteria that portrays selfishness because they abandoned an innocent deaf girl. Mr. Shiftlet moves onto the farm for the sole reason of taking possession of the car. The Old Woman pawns Lucynell off on Shiftlet because she feels as if she is getting too old to watch over her. At the end, Shiftlet has the audacity to try and help a young man to compensate for his previous sins. Throughout the story, a theme that is apparent is that selfishness often leads to self destruction.
From very early on in the story, the reader can recognize Mr. Shiftlet’s obsession with automobiles. Through his “sharp glance” towards the barn, the reader immediately understands that he wants the Old Woman’s car. Most of the initial conversation actually revolves around the
Shiftlet see’s a boy walking along side of the road. He offers the boy a ride and they evidently begin to converse. Shiftlet begins to try to teach the boy a lesson because he realizes the sizable sins he has committed. They include taking a family’s car, “milking” money out of an old woman who cannot afford it, and abandoning a deaf child. Through his short encounter with the boy, he states that his mother was an “Angel of Gawd” and he had left her. He is trying to convince the boy to go back to his mother, which, in fact, was much like his previous life. By Mr. Shiftlet trying to help the young boy, it shows how selfish he is because he is trying to cover up all his sins with one beneficial deed. This also shows that his sins have come back to haunt him and that if he does