Shiftlet Saves Everyone's Lives

First I'd like to say that I think Shiftlet's betrayel of Lucynell in the Life You Save Could Be Your Own was deplorable. However, I think that one way of reading this story is that he saved their family from its own tragic stasis. When I re-read this story what I noticed much was that their house and their family seemed to be stuck in time. The ages of Lucynell and the old woman are not given, and it seems as though their existence could not be properly measured in years because they have been stuck in one place for an indefinite amount of time. When Shiftlet shows up he builds and creates in a place that is barren and ruinous. By improving their living conditions he saves them from themselves. Whether or not things go smoothly for Lucynell after he leaves her in the diner is up for interpretation, but personally I think she's better off out in the wide world than wasting her life in the middle of the woods. The old woman certainly must be satisfied with the assurance that Lucynell finally went off on her own. And Shiftlet obviously has the freedom he wanted all along. All in all I think everyone was better off after Shiftlet's intervened to help them out.