The Life You Save May Be Your Own

by

Flannery O’Connor

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on The Life You Save May Be Your Own makes teaching easy.

The Life You Save May Be Your Own Symbols

The Car

The broken-down car symbolizes the choice Shiftlet must make between redemption and sin. From the beginning, the car fascinates Shiftlet: he immediately notices the make and model, and as he talks to Mrs. Crater

read analysis of The Car

The Rain

At the end of the story, after Shiftlet abandons Lucynell, a huge rainstorm gathers in the sky. The cleansing rain symbolizes God’s grace, and when Shiftlet steps on the gas to outrun the storm…

read analysis of The Rain