The Life You Save May Be Your Own

“The daughter could not see far in front of her and continued to play with her fingers.”

This quote shows how innocent Lucynell is while at the same time highlighting her vulnerability. She literally cannot see far in front of her, but metaphorically both she and her mother cannot see the truth of what is about to happen to them.

“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.