Thursday, February 21, 2008
The Life You Save May Be Your Own
Mr. Shiflet is a shady character from the beginning of the story because he does not really answer any of Lucynell Crater's questions directly. Suspicions are raised by Mr. Shiftlet's profession because he says he is a Carpenter. It would not be that suspicious if he was not missing an arm, but a one-armed Carpenter does not seem likely. It appears that Mr. Shiftlet likes to be doubted because he tells Mrs. Crater four different names that could be his. It is hard not to be suspicious of his character after that. I think he wants to be doubted by Mrs. Crater because he does not want her getting to close to him. I think that he was after her money at the very beginning. I feel bad for Mrs. Crater because he takes her money, car, and her only daughter. The abandonment of her daughter has to be hard on her because she pushed Mr. Shiflet to marry her daughter. I think that she blames herself for getting her daughter hurt. I thought that Mrs. Crater was a stronger character than she ended up being. In the beginning, I thought that she would not let Mr. Shiftlet get too close to her daughter or herself, but I am wrong. I guess that proves that evil can affect anyone at anytime. Stories like this just make me angry because I feel that people should work for what they have. Mr. Shiftlet worked for his food and board, but he his work did not earn him the $17.50 or the car. I get the impression that Lucynell Crater and her daughter work hard for everything they own. I guess that is what angers me the most. Lazy people annoy me, and I view Mr. Shiftlet as lazy in a way. He can do hard work, but he is not willing to work hard to get his own place and live make the money to buy his food by working himself.
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3 comments:
I think the fact he was missing an arm does not adimatically mean he was lying about that. He might have been in the profession before he lost his arm. Maybe the loss of his arm is why he goes around trying to con people. I felt that when he gave the four different names, he said it in such a way as, "I could be telling you a lie, but I'm not." I think that plus his all his complaints about the state of the world made Mrs. Crater want to trust him. I think she was blinded because she wanted someone to talk to after only having Lucynelle for all those years. I think Mr. Shiftlet might con people because he feels he can do nothing else because of his missing arm.
I was worried at the beginning of the story, because I didn't know who Mr. Shifftlet was. He said he could have been lieing, so what if he did? After a while he grew on me. He helped out so much around Lucynell and the old womans house. I thought it was nice that he fixed up the car, but then he stole it, so that was pretty rude. I thought it was wrong that the old woman was forcing Mr. Shifftlet to marry her daughter. I would not want my mother choosing who i was going to marry. That is just stupid. When Mr. Shifflet left Lucynell I felt so bad, because how was she supposed to get home? I was just worried about her at the end of the story. My feeling towards Mr. Shifflet changed also. I didn't like him after he did that horrible thing.
Shady is the exact word I used for Shiftlet. It describes him perfectly. He definitely did take advantage of Mrs. Crater, which I felt bad for. I don't think that Mrs. Crater is as innocent as she seems though. I think that she kind of, secretly wanted rid of Lucynell. She pushed their marriage so much that I think, maybe even subconsciously, she was sick of taking care of her. Of course, Shiftlet was the character that I hated more, but I think there was more than meets the eye to Mrs. Crater. I do see where you are coming from on everything you said though.
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