Flannery O'Connor
Mr. Shiftlet and the Mother’s Selfishness Erich Fromm psychoanalysis, social psychologist, sociologist, humanistic philosopher, and democratic socialist once said, “Selfish persons are incapable of loving others, but they are not capable of loving themselves either.” This quote describes Mr. Shiftlet and the mother, the main characters of this short story, spot on. In Flannery O’Connor, “The Life You Save May Be Your
Own,” the nomadic amputee, Mr. Shiftlet, makes himself seem like a trustworthy, selfless, young man to the mother of a mentally challenged girl, who in many occasions tries to marry of her daughter as a result of not wanting to take care of her anymore. Both of these characters have a clear idea of what they want; Mr Shiftlet wants a car and the mother wants someone to take care of her daughter instead of herself. They both succeed, yet end up alone, in result of their selfishness. When first meeting the mother and daughter duo, he introduces himself, and then says “I can tell you my name is Tom T. Shiflet and I come from Tarwater, Tennessee, but you never have seen me before: how you know I ain’t lying?” (O’Connor 94). Shiftlet then elaborates saying “Lady, people don’t care how they lie. Maybe the best I can tell you is, I’m a man; but listen lady, what is a man?”
(O’Connor 94). Bottom line, he explains how easy it is to lie and even foreshadowing the event that he will betray them. Throughout the whole conversation he keeps staring at the car and later finds out
Cervoni 2 that it hasn’t been used since the husband died fifteen years ago. He uses this as an excuse to fix the car, which later on in the story, he steals. Mr. Shiftlet cares very little of the mother and daughter, considering that when he ditched Lucynell at the diner, without even thinking twice. He just thought about how lonely he was. “He was more depressed than
Own,” the nomadic amputee, Mr. Shiftlet, makes himself seem like a trustworthy, selfless, young man to the mother of a mentally challenged girl, who in many occasions tries to marry of her daughter as a result of not wanting to take care of her anymore. Both of these characters have a clear idea of what they want; Mr Shiftlet wants a car and the mother wants someone to take care of her daughter instead of herself. They both succeed, yet end up alone, in result of their selfishness. When first meeting the mother and daughter duo, he introduces himself, and then says “I can tell you my name is Tom T. Shiflet and I come from Tarwater, Tennessee, but you never have seen me before: how you know I ain’t lying?” (O’Connor 94). Shiftlet then elaborates saying “Lady, people don’t care how they lie. Maybe the best I can tell you is, I’m a man; but listen lady, what is a man?”
(O’Connor 94). Bottom line, he explains how easy it is to lie and even foreshadowing the event that he will betray them. Throughout the whole conversation he keeps staring at the car and later finds out
Cervoni 2 that it hasn’t been used since the husband died fifteen years ago. He uses this as an excuse to fix the car, which later on in the story, he steals. Mr. Shiftlet cares very little of the mother and daughter, considering that when he ditched Lucynell at the diner, without even thinking twice. He just thought about how lonely he was. “He was more depressed than