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Use Of Characterization And Irony In Flannery O Connor

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Humans, during their lifespan, search for meaning in life. Flannery O’Connor writes a story about a man called Mr. Shiftlet. Mr. Shiftlet ends up on a farm and works for a strange woman called Old Lucynell. As Shiftlet works on Old Lucynell’s farm he and old Lucynell agree he will marry Old Lucynell’s deaf daughter who is referred to as Young Lucynell. Shiftlet eventually marries Young Lucynell only to leave her at the Hotspot. O’Connor uses symbols, characterization, and irony to reveal the search for meaning in this story. Throughout the story, O’Connor uses symbols such as the hitchhiker, the storm, and the old car in the shed as his personal search for meaning. When Shiftlet arrives on the farm the first thing he notices is the old car. “Given the gradually increasing interest he shows in money and Mrs. Crater’s automobile”(Encyclopedia.com). Shiftlet relentlessly works on this car as a way to leave the farm. His relentless work on the car shows the reader that wants more in life than stay at an old beat up farm. Eventually he fixes the car but at the end of the story he is still searching for …show more content…

Some of these occurrences happen before the reader’s eyes. One of the most obvious one is how everyone recognizes that Young Lucynell is an “Angel of Gawd” except for Shiftlet himself. Shiftlet leaves young Lucynell at the hotspot in search for meaning in life when it was right there in front of him. Another example of irony is when Shiftlet tells Old Lucynell how rotten the world is. Shiftlet ends not searching for meaning and ends up being just as rotten. Then final example on irony is how Old Lucynell informs Shiftlet she never wants to leave her daughter. In the end of the story, Old and Young Lucynell part ways and Old Lucynell hopes her daughter’s meaning in life has some importance. Shiftlet, however; leaves her at the Hotspot and doesn’t fulfill Old Lucynell’s goal for Young

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