The life you save may be your own

I've read the short novel by Flannery O'Conner. Title is above . That seems to be a typical american style novel, I mean, the daily world that is changed drastically by stranger . He is a tramp in this story.

First scene is very metaphoric and impressive.

" The old woman and her daughter were sitting on their porch when Mr. Shiftlet came up their road for the first time. The old woman slid to the edge of her chair and leaned forward, shading her eyes from the piercing sunset with her hand. The daughter could not see far in front of her and continued to play with her fingers."

Thus they, the old woman and her daughter, will have a tramp his name is Shiftlet.

The desolate land, widow, her deaf daughter, strange newcomer...

The old woman said to him, "Good evening."
"The tramp stood looking at her and didn't answer. He turned his back and faced the sunset. He swung both his whole and his short arm up slowly so that they indicated an expanse of sky and his figure formed a crooked cross."

According to a kind of expository book about the writer, "Her stories are often complex in symbolism and psychology, as well as deeply rooted in religion and mythology."

But you can find that the experience of reading O'Connor is to make you see the intensity of life beyond her Catholic religion and so on.