Grotesque in the Story

In the story, “The Life You Save Might Be Your Own” to be grotesque means that you’re disgusting, bizarre and twisted. It also has to do with an obsession. The character that is the most grotesque is Mr. Tom T. Shiftlet, the drifter. Mr. Tom’s words that make him grotesque are that he says “People do anything” and “People don’t care how they lie”. Actions that make him grotesque are that he only marries Lucynell for the money and car, basically he used her. Also the first thing he mentions when he first gets to the Craters house is the car. Another action that makes him grotesque is that he was at The Hot Spot with Lucynell, went for a drive and never came back for her. This makes him grotesque because he left a mentally challenged girl by herself far away from home stranded, so basically she’s stuck there. Mr. Tom’s appearance makes him look more grotesque than the other characters. His appearance consists of him missing half of his left arm, gaunt figure, long black hair, dirty, big jaw and forehead. This makes him grotesque because it makes him look scary and frightening. He just looks bizarre. Nobody tries to approach him or anything because of his scary looking appearance. He just overall looks grotesque and ugly. Another factor that makes Mr. Tom grotesque is what other characters also say about him. What the other characters think about Tom is that people such as Mrs. Crater, say that he’s a tramp, drifter and bum. These words can make anybody seem grotesque. Whenever the word bum or tramp is thought about, us as humans think of somebody as being nasty, disgusting and just don’t want to get near them. They’re basically thought of as grotesque because of the way they live and appear. Mr. Tom T. Shiftlet made many bad actions. Some things that he should have done was not get married to Lucynell just for the car and money, he should have said no because he already knew what his intentions were. He also shouldn’t have left Lucynell at The Hot Spot by herself with any help to get home. He should have at least had the decency to leave her home, then leave by himself and make up some lie as to when he’s going to come back, if he does. Overall Mr. Tom should have acted more mature and honest with the Craters.

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