The Life You Save May Be Your Own

“He seemed to be a young man but he had a look of composed dissatisfaction as if he understood life thoroughly.”

This short sentence gives readers insight into the inner world of Mr. Shiftlet. Mr. Shiftlet is dissatisfied, and being dissatisfied is the result of understanding (or at least believing he understands) life—i.e., life itself is dissatisfying.

“The old woman watched him with her arms folded across her chest as if she were the owner of the sun”

The sun is often a symbol of God and power. For Mr. Shiftlet, the old woman is the “owner” of the sun in two ways: She owns the car, which he wants, and she “owns” Lucynell, who symbolizes The Possibility of Salvation. This quote also shows Mrs. Crater’s arrogance. She believes she is in a position of power over Mr. Shiftlet because she owns a home, whereas he is a tramp, but her pretensions far outstrip her abilities.

“‘Lady,’ he said, ‘people don’t care how they lie. Maybe the best I can tell you is, I’m a man; but listen lady,’ he said and paused and made his tone more ominous still, ‘what is a man?’”

This is an important question that Mr. Shiftlet asks Mrs. Crater. He seems to be implying that because he is a man, he is capable of lying. Mrs. Crater would do well to listen, but she does not, which shows either her naivete or her willingness to be deceived in pursuit of her own ends.

“He had been a gospel singer, a foreman on the railroad, an assistant in an undertaking parlor, and he had come over the radio for three months with Uncle Roy and his Red Creek Wranglers. He said he had fought and bled in the Arm Service of his country and visited every foreign land and that everywhere he had seen people that didn’t care if they did a thing one way or another. He said he hadn’t been raised thataway.”

It is clear that Mr. Shiftlet is a wanderer. He has held many jobs and either has left them of his own accord or has been fired; he romanticizes this meandering lifestyle, framing it in terms of following The Spirit Versus the Law. In keeping with the story’s dark humor, there is also a play on Shiftlet’s mispronunciation of “Armed Service”; presumably, it was in the “Arm” forces that he lost his arm.

“A fat yellow moon appeared in the branches of the fig tree as if it were going to roost there with the chickens.”

The moon could be a symbol for Mr. Shiftlet or even for the possibility of a more opulent life. A “fat” moon suggests abundance. If the moon roosts with the chickens it will stay with them. However, the moon never stays in one place, and neither does Mr. Shiftlet.

“He said that a man had to escape to the country to see the world whole and that he wished he lived in a desolate place like this where he could see the sun go down every evening like God made it to do.”

This quote from Mr. Shiftlet may be a lie and mere flattery. He implies that he wants to stay with Mrs. Crater, though ultimately he will not. On the other hand, the idea that one must reach a “desolate place,” i.e., hit rock bottom, to “see the world whole” is significant; it foreshadows that all three characters will eventually reach a place of desolation where they will potentially see the truth of who they are.

“‘Why listen, Lady,’ he said with a grin of delight, ‘the monks of old slept in their coffins!’”

Mr. Shiftlet is so enamored of the car that he would happily sleep in it (though it also suits his own purposes to agree to Mrs. Crater’s terms). It also establishes a parallel between Mr. Shiftlet and a monk (someone who cares for spiritual matters) and the car and a coffin (a symbol of death). The comparison heightens the irony of his failed redemption; whereas the monks’ actions reflected their nonattachment to worldly things, Mr. Shiftlet covets the car, which will figuratively lead him to imprisonment rather than to freedom.

“‘They wasn’t as advanced as we are,’ the old woman said.”

This is a curious comment from Mrs. Crater, responding to Mr. Shiftlet’s reference to the monks. She seems not to understand the monks’ devoutness because she herself is more interested in material comfort than anything else.

“‘Teach her to say something else,’ the old woman said.

‘What you want her to say next?’ Mr. Shiftlet asked.

The old woman’s smile was broad and toothless and suggestive. ‘Teach her to say “sugarpie,”’ she said.

Mr. Shiftlet already knew what was on her mind.”

“Sugarpie” is a term of endearment that a young woman could use to flirt with or endear herself to others. When the old woman asks Mr. Shiftlet to teach Lucynell to say this word she is essentially asking him to teach her how to please men. This shows the mother’s willingness to use her daughter to get what she herself wants; that the scene resembles two loving parents teaching an infant child to talk heightens the sense of wrongness. Later, Mrs. Crater calls her daughter “Sugarbaby,” in what might be the last exchange she ever has with her.

“[H]er eyes blue even in the dark.”

This quote describes Lucynell, whom her mother is using to trap Mr. Shiftlet. The image of her blue eyes—a traditional symbol of innocence, as many babies are born with blue eyes that later darken—casts her as an almost holy figure. Though there is darkness, traditionally a symbol of evil, all around her, Lucynell remains a beacon of transcendence.

“‘It takes money,’ he said. ‘Some people’ll do anything anyhow these days, but the way I think, I wouldn’t marry no woman that I couldn’t take on a trip like she was somebody. I mean take her to a hotel and treat her. I wouldn’t marry the Duchesser Windsor,’ he said firmly, ‘unless I could take her to a hotel and give her something good to eat.’”

Mr. Shiftlet claimed that he cared more about the spirit than about money. Here he reveals his true nature, though he does so in the guise of satisfying social conventions. He is trying to extort money from Mrs. Crater by claiming he wants it for her daughter, not for himself.

“I was raised thataway and there ain’t a thing I can do about it. My old mother taught me how to do.”

Mr. Shiftlet refers to his mother and how she raised him several times. By his account, she raised him “right”—with good values that he tries to live by. It is never clear if Mr. Shiftlet’s mother really did raise him this way or if he is using the story of his mother to make people believe he is an honest person. He only ever talks about her when he is trying to convince people that he has a certain moral belief system.

“Mr. Shiftlet’s smile stretched like a weary snake waking up by a fire.”

Snakes, particularly in Christianity, are a symbol of evil, deception, and The Loss of Innocence. This simile therefore reveals Mr. Shiftlet’s true nature. While he pretends to be fighting Mrs. Crater on the prospect of marrying Lucynell, he is actually being just as clever and deceptive as she is, using the marriage to get the car.