Sooooo yeah, that little story that we read, The Life You Save May Be Your Own, PRIME example of bad motherhood. Seriously, this woman needs to get on Dr. Phil or something, because you don’t just give up to your daughter to some creeper character you only met a few days ago. When she first met the sketchster, Mr. Shiftlet, he talked allll about how you can’t trust anybody at all.
“…nowadays, people’ll do anything anyways. I can tell you my name is Tom T. Shiftlet and I come from Tarwater, Tennessee, but you never have seen me before; how you know I ain’t lying?”
How in the heck did that not tip her off that this Shiftlet guy is shady? Seriously? Honestly, no mother in her right mind would let her daughter marry some freaky one-armed stranger AND give him money. So even though she says that she wouldn’t give up her blond little angel Lucynell for a “casket of jewels,” I think that she’s lying and that she really wants to get rid of her daughter. Think about it, she says that her daughter is deaf, but there are hints in the story that suggest some sort of mental problems as well. Taking care of someone like that for nearly 30 years can’t be easy, even the most loving of mothers would need a break from time to time. But this woman doesn’t just want a break, she wants to get rid of Lucynell for good! She offers the sketchy Mr. Shiftlet money, a car, and the property to the house. Does that not sound like a bribe? Plus, she is the one pushing for the marriage, talking about how sweet Lucynell is, how pretty she is, how he should want a wife that won’t (can’t) talk back.
I imagine karma kicking in and doing something awful to this poor excuse of a mother. She forces her daughter to get married to some ugly sketchy guy and then that con-artist leaves her allllll alone in some diner with another sketchy guy drooling all over her sleeping body. If I were to write a sequel to this story, Mr. Shiftlet would crash the car and die and that awful mother would get struck by lightning.
4 comments:
See, this just proves my theological reading of the story. If Lucynell Crater, Sr. is God, then her "sacrifice" of her daughter is appropriate. But, as Rebecca said, this reading is full of holes, so maybe I'll quit when I'm ahead.
As far as the short stories go, there seems to be an (unintended) theme of bad parents running through. Does this say something about me, since I chose these stories, or is this just a common theme in short fiction?
Lisa-
I thought that same exact thing when I was reading this sory! I definelty thought that Mr. Shiftlet was a creeper and I couldn't for the life of me understand why the old women let him stay/live at her house for a while. This was especially weird since one of the first things he said to her was that comment about people lying. Then later on in the story when Mr. Shiftlet said that he wanted an innocent wife, the old women continued to tell him how innocent Lucynell was. That was really strange.
I completely agree with you that the old women was trying to shove Lucynell into someone else's life. I think that the old women was just trying to get rid of her and Mr. Shiftlet was he one and only opportunity to do so. How Sad!!
Loved the Blog Lisa!! Can't wait to read some more!
-Rachel :)
oh my gosh Lisa I love your idea for the sequal and your interpretations. The mom probably did want to get rid of her and they were just conning eachother! Your voice also comes through really well, so great job.
Lisa,
I love how your are so opinionated about things. Also how you really get into them. I do think that the mother is messed up, but I don't know if she is just trying to get rid of her daughter. But since you put it that way that makes the story make sense to me now. So, great idea.
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