Reading a story where a man marries a mentally handicapped girl, takes her away from the only home and place she has ever known, and leaves her nearly 100 miles from home, you would think that the reader would just instantly think, “What a jerk. Who does he think he is?” However, it’s hard for me to decide whether or not Mr. Shiftlet really is this low. He marries a girl that he never should have, because it was quite apparent from his comments such as, “I can’t get married right now. Everything you want to do takes money and I ain’t got any.” (4) or after the wedding, “That didn’t satisfy me none” (5). It is apparent that he isn’t happy, but I think it was easy for Lucynell to ignore this because she so desperately wanted a son-in-law. I’m not sure if she wanted to just pass the care of her daughter to someone else, or, if as a natural motherly instinct, she just wanted someone that would love and care for her daughter. I think she DID ultimately have good intentions, but they just created a sad ending. It is hard to believe that someone could just leave a mentally handicapped person, abandoning them in a place they know nothing of. It is understandable, since the only thing Mr. Shiftlet ever wanted was the car, but he really showed no compassion. He didn’t leave anyway for her to get back to her mother, or anything she knew. He simply left her in a restaurant, sleeping. That is why I think he is just..well, not that great of person. It was ironic to me that when he picked up the young boy, he started almost preaching to him what was right and wrong. It doesn’t really seem to me that he had any place to be talking, since he had just basically dumped someone off. I don’t think he intended to do this, I just think he needed someone to talk to, and this was his outlet, although the boy clearly did not appreciate it. All in all, I don’t think Mr. Shiftlet is a total dirtbag, I just think he could’ve made better decisions. He shouldn’t have let a manipulative mother sway him into marrying a girl he had a total lack of interest in. He was simply there to help out two ladies, and he got a lot more than he bargained for. If you really want to look at someone, look at the mother. She simply “gives away” her disabled daughter to a man she had known for a number of days. She knew really nothing of him, or why he WAS really there, just that he happened to be around, and fit the bill of a husband. It’s a bit sad to think that she wanted a son-in-law so bad, that she could make such a reckless decision, and let a man take her precious daughter away, the very thing she said she would never let happen, only to be left alone, away from home.
March 4th, 2008 at 10:30 am
One Response to “A Life To Be Saved”
I guess I really dont understand why the story is called a life to be saved, when really it seems like he just ruins the girls by leaving her. And honestly I dont see how he can benefit from that either
March 5, 2008 @ 9:58 pm