The Life You Save May Be Your Own

This story was really weird. I think because it's a short story it seemed kind of cramed, but I think it would have been drug out if it were a novel. The characters are strange. Mr. Shiftlet only has one arm, yet he is still very self centered. I thought that he would have been more of a helping and concerned person because he knows what it's like to struggle, at least that's what I thought. He did help the family by fixing the car and doing the tougher jobs around the house without asking for much. However Mrs. Crater wanted him to marry her daughter. I don't blame him for not wanting to, but he gave in and eventually did. The girl is deaf and can't talk, therefore she needs someone to be with her that understands her at all times. When he left her at the diner he basically proved that he didn't care for anyone else but himself. If he had a concious he would have felt bad for abandoning her without help when she can't speak or hear. He did pick up the young boy on the side of the road, though, and he probably thought he was doing such a great thing. I would have been a little freaked out if he started talking to me about my mother and his mother in a sort of angered apraising voice. It didn't really suprise me that he jumped out of the car. After thinking back about the story, I'm starting to think that Mr. Shiftlet just wanted their car. He did ask a lot about it and volunteer all his efforts to work on the car. He told Mrs. Crater that if he just had a belt he could get the car running. Then if he just had some paint he could keep it from rusting. He even agreed to marry her daughter if only he had enough money to pay for their "honeymoon" and a place to stay after. Mrs. Crater caves in and offers all of this to him eventually, and I think it was all part of his plan. Mrs. Crater was a fool for letting a stranger marry her daughter after only a short period of time.