Two Halves of a Whole

In much of Flannery O’Connor’s work, she creates many characters who have disabilities, two in which can be found in her story “The Life You Save May Be Your Own.” From what is told in the story, Lucynell Crater is a girl about thirty years old with the disability of being completely deaf. The story also hints at the idea that she may have some sort of intellectual disability. Along with Lucynell, there is also the character Mr. Shiftlet who has a disability. The disability that O’Connor has given Mr. Shiftlet is that he has only half of an arm. Each of these characters have very differing disabilities. While one is affected mentally, the other is affected physically. Because these characters have what the other lacks, did O’Connor pair them together on purpose?

Some could argue that O’Connor made Mr. Shiftlet have half of an arm and Lucynell be completely deaf to simply add to her collection of odd characters. However, I believe that she brought them together for the reason that they complete each other. From the time Mr. Shiftlet arrives, Mrs. Crater tells of Lucynell’s disability and hints that the only thing she is able to do is physical labor: “She’s smart too. She can sweep the floor, cook, wash, feed the chickens, and hoe” (O’Connor 149). Her mother reveals that despite being deaf, she is physically able to do things any normal person could do, unlike Mr. Shiftlet. As the woman sat and listened to Mr. Shiftlet talk and ask questions, all she could think about was his lack of a full functioning arm: “He asked her what she thought she was made for, but she didn’t answer, she only sat rocking and wondered if a one-armed man could put a roof on her garden house” (O’Connor 148). While Lucynell is able to do things like sweep the floor and hoe the garden, Mr. Shiftlet would struggle completing these tasks. However, Mr. Shiftlet is able to sit down and have meaningful conversations while Lucynell is only able to somewhat mutter out the word bird. 

By having their paths crossed and being joined together by marriage, O’Connor seems to be completing her characters. Because she puts two halves of one whole together, I believe it explains the way Mr. Shiftlet feels after leaving Lucynell at the diner. As he left the diner where Lucynell was fast asleep “he was more depressed than ever as he drove on by himself” (O’Connor 155). He now feels as though something is missing as he drives on into a storm, and what is missing is his other half, Lucynell. Mr. Shiftlet’s whole speech to the boy about leaving his mother also reveals the deepening sadness he feels for leaving Lucynell behind: 

I never rued a day in my life like the one I rude when I left that old mother of mine… ‘My mother was an angel of Gawd’ [he] said in a very strained voice. ‘He took her from heaven and giver to me and I left her.’ His eyes were instantly clouded over with mist of tears. (O’Connor 155-156)

Though he is saying this about his mother, Mr. Shiftlet seems to be referring to Lucynell. While in the restaurant the boy behind the counter refers to Lucynell the same way Mr. Shiftlet refers to his mother: “She looks like an angle of Gawd” (O’Connor 154). Mr. Shiftlet is feeling so emotional because he knows he is leaving behind the only thing in the world that can complete him. 

The Sin of Pride

Pride is something that Flannery O’Connor addresses in most of her stories and having too much pride usually results in her characters experiencing some kind of revelation. Within the very first moments of “The Artificial N***er,” O’Connor reveals both Mr. Head’s and Nelson’s prideful tendencies through even the most miniscule interactions. Each characters’ prideful tendencies have resulted in a significant divide within their relationship. Even something as simple as waking up earlier than the other to make breakfast has become a competition and drive for spite. The old man Mr. Head seems to have an abundance of pride in regard to the knowledge he has gathered throughout life. He continually boasts his knowledge and tries to outsmart his grandson Nelson. This only feeds into Nelson’s pride. Nelson’s annoyance for his grandfather stems from the pride he feels for being born in the city rather than out in the country. Both men’s sense of pride controls the way in which they treat each other as well as others. Mr. Head is too prideful to admit that he does not know all, while Nelson is too prideful to admit that he does rely on his grandfather, and both are too prideful to accept the fact that they are no better than anyone else. 

The series of events that unfold as the plot progresses in “The Artificial N***er” reveal each characters’ denial of Christ because of pride. Because each of them is consumed by proving the other wrong, they only worsen their situation of being lost in the city. In Lucas Morel’s “Bound for Glory: The Gospel of Racial Reconciliation in Flannery O’Connor’s ‘The Artificial N***er,’” he argues that both Nelson and Mr. Head are blinded not only by their pride but also by their racial prejudices. As Mr. Head takes them deeper into the city trying to show the boy his “knowledge” he reveals his bigotry as well when refusing to ask black people for directions. What Morel argues is that because Mr. Head refuses to ask for help it is a denial of spiritual transformation, “O’Connor teaches the reader about opportunities for spiritual transformation that are missed by the main characters, Mr. Head and his grandson Nelson, because of their pride and self-justification, which manifest themselves most clearly in racial bigotry” (203). One then may argue that Nelson is not prideful because he does indeed ask a black woman for help, however after he speaks to her, he feels a strong sense of shame, thus revealing his bigotry. Morel argues that because both men ashamed of asking these strangers for help, they are in a way denying Christ. Each one of their encounters with a black stranger is a representation of the Kingdom of God and they are too blinded by pride to realize this. 

Source: http://web.b.ebscohost.com.reddog.rmu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=6&sid=c8c00314-76ad-473d-81ea-e350318f92b3%40sessionmgr103