So for today's discussion I'd like to touch upon the ideas that Brad and Austin both posted on...
Like Brad, during the first read I focused on Shiftlet's betrayal of Lucynell...and this time around the waiter really creeped me out. However...he spoke the truth when he described her as "an angel of gawd." She was wearing a white dress, and if you picture her laying there with her eyes closed...and, for me, that paints a picture of a stereotypical angel (without the wings of course.)
I wouldn't give Shiftlet so much credit, though...even though he got her some food and paid for it, he LEFT her there...with the inability to communicate, and worse, to find her way home. Before they run off on their honeymoon, Shiftlet expresses being upset "by the word 'milk'" (pg. 180.) BUT he does milk her in a sense...yes, he fixed up the car, and yes, he marries her daughter, but he takes the car and leaves his wife. I think he gives himself too much credit because of how much he did for them; he fixed up their house/yard and got the car to start running again.
The last 2 1/2 pages drive me nuts. Up until the hitchhiker gets into the car with Shiftlet, O'Connor gives us a story with a flow that makes perfect sense to the reader. Honestly, every time I read this, I have to reread the last 2 1/2 pages over and over again...Austin pointed out that his "mother" - "an angel of gawd" represents both Lucynells. But this last segment, where he argues with the hitchhiker, and basically commands rain to wash away the slime of the earth, makes me think that he's either psychotic or a religious figure...so which is it?
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I think when he's asking God to remove the slime of the Earth, he is doing nothing more than the classic case of psychological projection.
He cannot face his own deeds, so he is being very hypocritical. Rather than face what he has done, he focuses on the evil that other people do so he can remain blameless in his mind.
The scariest part for me is that I think Shiftlet really believes the lines of bull he provides: how you can't find any good, honest people anymore, the whole "what's happened to the world today?" talk. He buys it and he must project onto others what he cannot see in himself.
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