The Life You Save May Be Your Own

Reading Check

1. Mr. Shiftlet walks into their yard one day. (Paragraphs 1-3)

2. Lucynell is deaf and cannot speak; Mr. Shiftlet is missing one arm. (Paragraphs 1, 38)

3. He fixes things around the house and yard and gets the old car working. (Various paragraphs)

4. Lucynell is “innocent,” sweet, smart enough to work, and will never talk back to him. (Paragraphs 28-31, 49, 55-58)

5. Mr. Shiftlet insists on taking Lucynell on a honeymoon trip. (Paragraphs 70-71)

6. Mr. Shiftlet abandons Lucynell at a roadside diner. (Paragraphs 84-88)

Short Answer

1. Mr. Shiftlet agrees to help Mrs. Crater make repairs on the farm because he wants to repair and keep her car. (Various paragraphs)

2. Mrs. Crater offers Mr. Shiftlet work on her farm in exchange for bed and board because she wants a man there to help her since her husband is gone. She also hopes that he will marry her daughter, Lucynell. (Various paragraphs)

3. Mrs. Crater and Mr. Shiftlet are both crafty in getting what they want. However, Mr. Shiftlet seems to care about no one but himself, despite his moral proclamations. Mrs. Crater genuinely cares about her daughter and cries when Lucynell leaves home with Mr. Shiftlet. (Various paragraphs)

4. The hitchhiker cannot stand Mr. Shiftlet’s moral ranting about mothers; he seems to sense Mr.