The Life You Save May Be Your Own

On the surface, this story is about two people using one another for their own ends: Mr. Shiftlet wants a car, and Mrs. Crater wants a son-in-law to help maintain her farm. However, the story is also about The Possibility of Salvation and how self-deception, deception of others, and selfish desire lead people to reject that redemption.

The story opens with religious imagery. As Mr. Shiftlet arrives at the farm, he stretches, and his arms form a “crooked cross” (Paragraph 5); his missing hand/lower arm suggests that, like Jesus, he is suffering through physical torment. He is also a carpenter, as Jesus was, making the allusion to Christianity that much clearer. Mr. Shiftlet consistently presents himself as a good man, saying he has a kind of “moral intelligence” and that he wouldn’t want to marry a girl who wasn’t “innocent.”

Mrs. Crater observes the benefits of having Mr. Shiftlet around, and she can see that her daughter likes him. He teaches Lucynell how to say “bird,” which she does enthusiastically, and he brings the farm back to life. In a way, Mrs. Crater is looking for Mr.