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

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The short fiction story of “ The Life You Save May Be Your Own ” written by Flannery O’Connor uses many literary devices. O'Connor expresses real life tragedies throughout this story using imagery, underlying bibliomancy, and symbolism. Usage of bright vivid colors provides an insight on O’Conner double meanings. The weather plays a role in which it shows the characters mood and crucial moments. The references of religious symbols assists the characters. The color scheme used through the story are mostly dark colors. When Mr. Shiftlet arrived “ He had a black town suit and a brown felt hat”. Black is known for death, evil, and mystery. While the description of Mrs. Crater emphasized on the grey hat, grey is known for loss and depression. As …show more content…

Throughout the story you see the weather become a guide to the characters emotions and significance moments. During an early afternoon with “clear and open and surrounded by pale blue sky” Mr. Shiftlet and Lucynell gets married at the courthouse. As they say their farewell to Mrs. Crater the sky is full of life. Reaching their destination Mr. Shiftlet leave Lucynell “an TITLE OF YOUR PAPER 2 angel of Gawd” at the Hot Spot. During his drive away from the motel the “afternoon had grown hot and sultry and country has flattened out”. A storm was brewing ahead, further Mr. Shiftlet got from the motel he picks up a hitchhiker that angrily screams “you go to the devil” and jumps out of a moving car. Mr. Shiftlet has lost his salvation as his aware “there was a guffawing peal of thunder from behind and fantastic raindrops, like tin-can tops, crashed over the rear”. Tom. T Shiftlet character is known to be a Blasé about the world. In his first appearance he turned himself around to look at the sunset, swinging “both his whole and short arm up slowly so that they indicated an expanse of the sky and his figure formed a crooked cross. Seeing Lucynell for the first time “she had long pink-gold hair and eyes as blue as a peacocks