The Life You Save May Be Your Own Title Analysis

The title is the first thing the reader sees and it’s the first opportunity that the author has to capture the reader. It goes without saying, that an intriguing title will appeal more strongly with readers. Many times the title presents a question that the reader carries throughout the piece of literature and can only be answered once that piece of literature is read. In other ways, a title can reveal the major theme or idea of a work of literature. The title serves as the introduction of the introduction of a story, it’s the beginning of the story before the story even begins. This is no exception with The Life You Save May Be Your Own by Flannery O’Connor. The Life You Save May Be Your Own (LIfe) captures the grotesk behavior and interactions of a mother by the name of Mrs. Crater, a daughter by the name of Lucynell Crater and a stranger by the name of Tom T. Shiftlet. LIfe tells the story of a mentally challenged Lucynell Crater, whose mother, Mrs. Crater, attempts to marry her to a drifter named Tom T. Shiftlet. Shiftlet gains money and his dreamed automobile and by the end of the story

The characters of The Life You Save May Be Your Own show extreme cases of selfishness and attempts to take advantage of people. In the same way, the attempt of Mr. Shiftlet to save a boy from committing his own mistakes is another form of interpreting the title. The instinct of survival that causes people to be willing to overlook any moral standard for their own benefit can be seen as other theme of The Life You Save May Be Your Own. Overall, title of Flannery O’Connor can have many interpretations, but one can not overlook the constant selfishness that resides throughout the story. Critiquing the title, quickly reveals the different intentions within a