what does Mr. shiftlet do to lucynell on the way to mobile
An one-time woman and her daughter are sitting on their porch when a stranger, Mr. Shiftlet, approaches. Even from afar with the sunset blinding her, the old adult female tin tell that the human is only a "tramp" and she shouldn't be afraid of him. The daughter, meanwhile, can't see very well and keeps playing with her fingers. The stranger but has i arm, just in his expert hand he's carrying a toolbox. As Shiftlet gets closer to her yard, she stands up to greet him, and her daughter—noticing him for the first time—stomps her feet and makes "excited speechless sounds."
The story opens at sunset, a period of transition from lite to night that foreshadows the significance of Shiftlet's arrival. It's articulate the old woman and her daughter live a fairly isolated life from the interest they show the stranger. The fact that "tramps" are the most common kind of visitor advise that this is not a prosperous area. Shiftlet'southward missing arm makes him seem vulnerable and tragic, which contributes to the erstwhile woman's sense of prophylactic. Meanwhile, it's not immediately articulate whether the daughter is a child or a disabled adult.
As Shiftlet steps into the thou, he casually puts downwardly his toolbox and tips his chapeau as though the daughter weren't at all "afflicted." They tin can see that he's a fairly immature human. The onetime woman greets him and he doesn't answer, instead raising his arms—including his shorter one—towards the sunset, making the shape of a "crooked cantankerous" and property the pose for almost a minute. When he finally drops his arms, he says he'd "give a fortune" to run across a sunset similar this every nighttime. The old woman affirms that the sunset is e'er like this here.
Shiftlet's gentlemanly entrance and courtesy to the daughter create a positive outset impression of his character. The world "affected" strongly suggests that the daughter is sick or disabled. Because Shiftlet seems to exist polite, his behavior in response to the old woman's greeting seems strange. Instead of responding, he salutes the sun, forming his artillery into a "crooked cantankerous." This linguistic communication suggests something divine is happening, as the cross is a symbol of Christianity. But it's also possible that something darker is afoot, given that the cross is kleptomaniacal. The old woman's statement that the dominicus sets similar that every night from her farm associates the setting with that same divinity.
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The daughter watches Shiftlet carefully, so he offers her a piece of gum. She takes it, only when he offers the quondam adult female one, she shows him that she doesn't have any teeth. By this indicate, Shiftlet has already looked over everything in their g, merely his eyes settle on an old, rusted machine. When he asks if they drive it, the onetime woman says that the car hasn't run in 15 years, since the day her husband died. Shiftlet replies that nil is equally it once was, and the world is "almost rotten" at present.
The daughter's behavior towards Shiftlet makes it clear she finds him interesting. His kindness towards her continues to contribute to the reader'due south positive assessment of his character. The one-time woman's toothless mouth is a small moment that suggests decay is everywhere on this small-scale subcontract; the cleaved car accomplishes the same thing. Shiftlet'southward immediate interest in the car seems intense, simply not yet devious. Chiefly, the car is associated with Mrs. Crater's deceased husband, linking it with a deep sense of loss. Shiftlet's pessimism, introduced here for the commencement fourth dimension, contributes to the tone of the story—the world has non been kind to whatsoever of these characters.
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Every bit the woman asks more than about Shiftlet, his eyes remain fixed on the automobile. She introduces herself as Lucynell Crater, which is also her girl's name. When she asks why he'due south here, he's mentally estimating the motorcar'south age, but he replies by saying that there's a doctor in Atlanta who cut a man's heart out of his chest and studied information technology. However, that dr. "don't know no more about information technology than you lot or me." Mrs. Crater agrees, and Shiftlet clarifies that the dr. still wouldn't know annihilation about the center if he cutting every inch of it. When Mrs. Crater asks where Shiftlet is from, he doesn't answer.
Shiftlet's continued focus on the car hints that it will be increasingly pregnant as the story unfolds. The fact that the mother and the girl are both named Lucynell Crater contributes to the sense that this farm is stuck in the past. Even worse, the younger Lucynell Crater doesn't seem destined to progress past her mother—instead, she'southward likely to ever be dependent on her, which their twinned names also propose. Shiftlet's meditation on the nature of knowledge comes out of nowhere, another hint that he's an anarchistic person. The chestnut virtually the doctor in Atlanta has an anti-say-so and anti-intellectual streak: Shiftlet doesn't accept scientific discovery as worthwhile. Moreover, the physical heart in the story stands in for the metaphorical heart, exemplifying a core theme of the story: homo nature is unknowable.
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Shiftlet rolls a cigarette, lights it, and stares for a while every bit the flame of his match descends towards his skin. Lucynell, the daughter, begins making worried noises, and he blows it out. Slyly, he tells Mrs. Crater that these days, people will say anything. He can tell her that his name is Tom Shiftlet and he'south from Tennessee, but she won't know that he isn't someone else from somewhere else. Irritated, Mrs. Crater acknowledges that she knows zip nearly him, and he replies that while people prevarication all the time, he tin at least say he'due south a man. Then his tone grows darker and he asks, "what is a homo?"
Shiftlet's wry response to Mrs. Crater's simple question again emphasizes the impossibility of truly knowing anything most some other person. He tells her his name and where he's from, but by pointing out how easily he could be lying he casts doubt on everything else he'southward said so far. She'due south frustrated by this, just strangely Shiftlet's acknowledgment that he could be lying seems to make him more trustworthy. Shiftlet's preoccupation with what defines a man, meanwhile, points to his own insecurities about his masculinity.
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Mrs. Crater asks Shiftlet what he carries in his toolbox. He replies that he's carrying tools because he'south a carpenter. Mrs. Crater tells him he tin hang around and work for food, simply she can't pay him in coin. Shiftlet leans back and says that there are some things that hateful more to some men than money. He then starts request a lot of questions about what a human being is for while Mrs. Crater wonders whether a one-armed man can fix her roof. He also claims to have traveled far and wide, worked a number of jobs, and fought in a war. As the moon rises, he says he wishes he lived in a "desolate place" like this where you tin meet the sunday go downward "like God made it to do."
Shiftlet seems affronted past Mrs. Crater'due south question about what he carries in his toolbox, even though he's just given her every reason to doubt external appearances. The chat almost money emphasizes the characters' poverty, but Shiftlet seems offended past Mrs. Crater's supposition that he'due south later on coin. He once more seems preoccupied with what defines a man, and Mrs. Crater's private doubts about his missing arm propose that he'due south non incorrect to experience some insecurity. Shiftlet'due south sudden talkativeness near his background, and then presently after he pointed out how hands he could lie nigh himself, is difficult to take entirely seriously. His ascertainment well-nigh the Crater's farm beingness remote, desolate, and how "God made it" associate the farm with holiness, every bit if it's a foreign kind of Eden.
Mrs. Crater asks Shiftlet if he's married. He says no, asking where a man could find an innocent woman rather than "trash." Lucynell falls and begins to whimper. Shiftlet asks if she's Mrs. Crater'due south daughter, and Mrs. Crater says she is. She says Lucynell is "smart," and can melt and wash, and that she wouldn't let any man take her away for anything. Shiftlet agrees. Mrs. Crater insists that any man who came for Lucynell would have to stick around.
Mrs. Crater'southward interest in whether or not Shiftlet is married is a inkling to her want for a son-in-police force. Shiftlet's response—that he wants an innocent woman rather than trash—introduces a dichotomy of female virtue that will go significant later on. Lucynell's autumn makes her seem vulnerable and helpless, and while her female parent seems to love and value her, it's significant that Mrs. Crater's idea of value and what it ways to exist "smart" revolves around doing household chores. The thought that Lucynell should get married seems totally divorced from the reality of her character, but Mrs. Crater doesn't discover or care.
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Shiftlet's middle catches the glittering car again. He says he can set up anything on the subcontract, even with i arm. He exclaims that he'south a man, if not a "whole i." Mrs. Crater, unimpressed, says he can stay and work for food if he doesn't listen sleeping in the machine. Shiftlet, grinning, responds that the monks of old slept in their coffins. Mrs. Crater responds that they weren't as advanced.
The automobile, described as glittering in the night, appears increasingly seductive to Shiftlet. He proclaims his masculinity despite his disability, which seem linked together in his mind. Shiftlet'southward excitement when Mrs. Crater says he can sleep in the car over again points to how intensely focused on the automobile he is.
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Shiftlet stays on the farm and begins to piece of work, apace making a difference. He patches up steps, fixes the fence, and even teaches Lucynell to say the give-and-take "bird," the first discussion she'southward ever spoken. Mrs. Crater watches him work with pleasance, "ravenous" for a son-in-law.
Shiftlet's rapid progress around the farm frames him equally a logroller, a teacher, and a potential human of the house. He's doing good piece of work, repairing broken things like Christ (a fellow carpenter) did, and his kindness to Lucynell suggests he cares about her. Mrs. Crater'due south want for a son-in-law seems desperate and almost greedy based on the description of her existence ravenous.
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Shiftlet sleeps in the auto at night, where he's fabricated a bully little sleeping room setup in the backseat. In the evening he sits on the porch and talks while Mrs. Crater listens and Lucynell rocks back and forth. He says he's working to ameliorate the farm considering he's taken a "personal interest" in it, and that he even plans to make the motorcar run. He'southward studied the cleaved car and says that information technology was built back when cars were "really congenital" by a unmarried craftsman with a "personal interest." He says that cars are worse and more expensive nowadays because y'all have to pay "all those men" in an assembly line rather than paying only one. Mrs. Crater agrees.
The description of Shiftlet'south meticulous chamber setup in the car emphasizes the extent to which he'southward settled in—both in the car and at the farm more broadly. Shiftlet's comment about his personal interest in the subcontract as well implies that he might consider staying there, and Mrs. Crater certainly would similar for that to be the case. His anti-industrialist voice communication near the trouble with modern cars reinforces the recurring idea of the world being rotten. However, he's wrong: assembly line product drastically lowered the price of cars in the early 20th century. Mrs. Crater's agreement emphasizes the naivete of both characters, and the extent of Mrs. Crater's deference to Shiftlet.
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Shiftlet says the trouble with the earth is that nobody takes whatsoever problem, pointing out how he was able to teach Lucynell a word just by taking the fourth dimension. Mrs. Crater asks Shiftlet to teach Lucynell some other word. He asks which word and Mrs. Crater, wearing a "suggestive" smiling, chooses "sugarpie." Shiftlet realizes she'south got something on her listen.
Shiftlet's kindness towards Lucynell continues, and it notwithstanding seems similar he genuinely cares for her. However, his role as a instructor to her is more paternal and ideal than romantic—and then Mrs. Crater's suggestion that Shiftlet teach Lucynell a term of endearment seems like a misread of the state of affairs on her role. It communicates to Shiftlet that she's plotting a wedlock.
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The next 24-hour interval Shiftlet tells Mrs. Crater that if she buys a fan belt he can brand the car run. She agrees to give him the coin. And so she points to Lucynell and tells him that if a man always wanted to have Lucynell away she would say no, simply if he wanted to marry her and stay on the farm she would concur, since Lucynell is "the sweetest girl in the world." Shiftlet asks how old Lucynell is and Mrs. Crater says 15 or 16, even though she's actually around xxx, which seems believable because of Lucynell'southward "innocence."
This passage emphasizes that Shiftlet is primarily interested in the machine, simply Mrs. Crater is primarily interested in marrying off her daughter. In an attempt to make her daughter seem bonny, Mrs. Crater emphasizes Lucynell's sweet and innocence, qualities that are partially rooted in her disability. She too claims Lucynell is a teenager rather than an adult woman in a bid to make her seem more sexually bonny. Mrs. Crater'southward lie emphasizes the absurdity of "innocence" every bit a desirable female trait: fifty-fifty Lucynell, whose disability renders her unable to communicate, is non sufficiently innocent as a 30-year-sometime to be enticing. Instead, she has to also be 15.
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The next day Shiftlet goes into boondocks and buys the missing part and some gasoline. After, Mrs. Crater hears a foreign noise and rushes into the shed, thinking Lucynell is having a fit. Instead, she finds Lucynell crying out "Burrddttt!" in excitement considering Shiftlet has managed to make the machine run. He has "an expression of serious modesty equally if he had only raised the dead" every bit he sits in the driver's seat.
This scene is the climax of Shiftlet's series of good works around the Crater subcontract. His ability to resurrect the long-dead auto parallels Christ'southward miracle of raising the dead, and this comparison is one of the most explicit moments that casts Shiftlet as a Christlike figure. His expression of "serious modesty" while doing so is ironic, calculation humour to the moment while also suggesting a degree of insincerity and performance to Shiftlet's composure.
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That night, Mrs. Crater asks Shiftlet sympathetically whether he wants an "innocent" woman, not "none of this trash." Shiftlet agrees that he does. Mrs. Crater goes on, saying he should have a woman who tin can't talk, "can't sass you back or use foul language," and points to Lucynell, who is sitting cross-legged with both feet in her hands. Shiftlet admits that she wouldn't exist "whatsoever trouble."
By repeating his own words dorsum to him, Mrs. Crater tries to trap Shiftlet into agreeing that Lucynell is the correct woman for him. Her statement that Lucynell will make a good married woman relies on Lucynell'due south silence as a result of her disability: a woman who can't talk tin't "sass" her husband, and this docility and lack of independence is seen equally desirable under a patriarchal organisation, fifty-fifty to another woman. Shiftlet'due south agreement that Lucynell wouldn't give him "trouble" emphasizes the extent to which the ideal woman in the characters' time and place is i who is piece of cake to control.
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Mrs. Crater tells him they can drive into boondocks on Saturday and get married. Shiftlet protests that he tin can't become married without any coin; he says he wouldn't marry a woman if he couldn't accept her on a trip and care for her. He says he was raised that way by his mother. Mrs. Crater protests that Lucynell doesn't know the departure and points out that he'd be getting a permanent home and "the most innocent girl in the world." She also tells him angrily that "there own't any place in the globe for a poor disabled friendless drifting man."
Shiftlet uses his supposed chivalrous lawmaking as an excuse to hide his reluctance to marry Lucynell, challenge that he tin't get married if he can't "treat" his wife. At this point, it's unclear if he'due south sincere, but by claiming a strict adherence to the masculine role of the provider, he's trying to avoid scrutiny. Mrs. Crater's barbarous words demonstrate how angry she is at his refusal, and therefore how drastic she is for this marriage. Even though she'south been deferent to Shiftlet throughout the story, and genuinely wants him equally a son-in-law, she's willing to utilise his biggest insecurity to win the argument as before long every bit she thinks she might not get what she wants.
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Shiftlet contemplates the "ugly words" that settle in his head "like a group of buzzards." He rolls a cigarette and says evenly that a man is divided into two parts, trunk and spirit. The torso is similar a house and stays put, Shiftlet says, but a man'southward spirit is like an automobile, "always on the motility." Mrs. Crater responds past list her habitation'due south amenities: it's warm in wintertime, has a well that never runs dry, and now has a working machine. At the mention of the automobile Shiftlet'southward "grinning stretche[due south] similar a weary snake waking upwards by a fire" before he "recall[s]" himself. He says he would still have to take his married woman out for a weekend to follow his spirit.
Shiftlet is hurt by Mrs. Crater'south words, fabricated articulate by the line nigh the buzzards settling in his caput. However, he doesn't let on that this is the case, instead speaking "evenly"—once once again, Shiftlet'south control over his expression seems near dishonest. His comparison of his spirit to an automobile suggests that he could abandon the Craters at any time, and it besides intensifies his identification in the story with the Craters' auto. It'south Mrs. Crater'due south mention of the car that rouses Shiftlet's snakelike smile, a negative comparison that is a major turning point for how Shiftlet is characterized. In the light of that simile, Shiftlet'southward quick agreement to marry Lucynell is securely suspicious.
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Mrs. Crater offers $15 for a weekend trip, proverb it'due south the all-time she can do. Shiftlet barters, maxim that would just cover gas and a hotel, not food. Mrs. Crater counters with $17.50, saying it isn't whatsoever use trying to "milk" her, a discussion choice Shiftlet is "securely injure" by. He suspects she has more coin sewed up in her mattress, merely he says he'south not interested in her money. He agrees to the wedding.
Shiftlet'south bargaining with Mrs. Crater for more than money sets off alarm bells that he peradventure isn't entirely invested in marrying Lucynell. Withal, Shiftlet internally claims to be "deeply injure" past Mrs. Crater'due south observation that he's trying to "milk" her, a reaction that reads as insincere afterward the description of his smiling "like a weary snake waking upwards." The suggestion that even his own inner thoughts can be inauthentic suggests a deep disconnect between Shiftlet's cocky-image and his actual nature.
Shiftlet, Lucynell, and Mrs. Crater bulldoze into boondocks on Saturday. Shiftlet and Lucynell are married at the courthouse. Shiftlet complains afterwards, looking morose and biting. He says the ceremony didn't satisfy him as it was just paperwork and blood tests. He repeats a line from his earlier anecdote about the doctor studying a middle, saying "If they was to accept my center and cut it out… they wouldn't know a matter about me." Mrs. Crater responds sharply that it satisfied the law, and Shiftlet spits before proverb that the constabulary doesn't satisfy him.
Shiftlet's bitterness on the day of his hymeneals sets the marriage off to a bad starting time. He seems frustrated with the superficial nature of the ceremony, echoing his before language of how nobody can know "a matter nigh me" through medical or, in this case, legal examination. Mrs. Crater, meanwhile, is satisfied with the conventions of a legal union ceremony, and upset by Shiftlet's lack of respect for them.
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They go in the automobile. Mrs. Crater comments on how pretty Lucynell looks, like a baby doll. Lucynell has a "placid expression," every so often changed by a "sly isolated trivial idea like a shoot of green in the desert." Mrs. Crater says to Shiftlet that he got a prize. Shiftlet doesn't even look at her.
Mrs. Crater's comments compare Lucynell to an inanimate object, emphasizing how little anyone in this story seems to view Lucynell as a real person. Instead, she's framed as a doll or a prize, to be handed off to a hubby at everyone else's convenience. The description of Lucynell as having a "placid expression" and "isolated" thoughts compounds the sense that she has no idea what'due south happening to her, creating a horrific mood in the aftermath of her matrimony. Shiftlet'due south complete lack of interest in her makes information technology clear that he's got something else on his mind, though.
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They drive back to the farm, where Shiftlet drops Mrs. Crater off. She cries as she says bye to Lucynell, maxim she has never been parted from her daughter for fifty-fifty two days before while Shiftlet stares at the motor. Mrs. Crater says it's alright because she knows Shiftlet will do correct by her. She clutches at Lucynell, who doesn't seem to see her at all. Shiftlet eases the car forrad to release her grip so drives off.
Mrs. Crater'south tearful bye to Lucynell contrasts with Lucynell'due south neutral, unseeing expression, which again suggests that she has no idea what is happening to her. Mrs. Crater's conventionalities that she'll see her girl again in simply ii days—and that Shiftlet will "practise correct"—reads as ominous in context with Shiftlet's increasingly discrete and selfish behavior. His impatience to drive off is another clue that he doesn't care almost either woman's wellbeing: he literally forces Mrs. Crater to let go of Lucynell (and the automobile!) by stepping on the gas.
The afternoon is clear and blueish and the auto helps Shiftlet forget his earlier bitterness. He has always wanted a auto only could never afford information technology. He drives very fast, because he wants to brand Mobile past nightfall.
The huge reveal in this paragraph is that Shiftlet has no intention of going on a nice footling weekend holiday with Lucynell—he has a different destination in listen, the littoral urban center of Mobile. The clear blue sky adds a sense of optimism to this scene, which mirrors Shiftlet'south own mood merely contrasts heavily with the revelation that Shiftlet has been afterward the automobile the whole time.
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Shiftlet somewhen looks at Lucynell, who is pulling cherries off her chapeau and throwing them out the window, and becomes depressed. Subsequently about a hundred miles he decides she must be hungry and pulls over at a roadside restaurant.
It takes a while for Shiftlet to fifty-fifty remember Lucynell—clearly, she'southward extraneous to his plans. His depression looking at her, and his conclusion to make certain she gets a good meal, advise some lingering kindness and affection towards her. He's conspicuously never wanted her for a bride, but he did at one signal comport generously towards her and at this moment information technology seems he might continue doing so. They're already more than than a hundred miles from the farm, emphasizing how lost and vulnerable she is.
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Shiftlet orders Lucynell a plate of nutrient and she immediately falls comatose in the empty restaurant. He tells the waiter to give the food to her when she wakes up. The waiter comments "She looks similar an angel of Gawd," and Shiftlet says she's just a hitchhiker, and that he has to leave to make Tuscaloosa. The waiter touches a finger to Lucynell's hair and Shiftlet leaves.
Lucynell falls asleep at a pivotal moment in the story, which means she's even less aware than usual about what's happening. The waiter'southward comment that Lucynell looks like an affections—spoken with hushed reverence at her beauty—is an important moment, because information technology explicitly associates Lucynell with holiness and divinity despite her oft hapless label. Shiftlet's callousness towards her in this scene fully confirms his distance from God: by describing her every bit a mere hitchhiker and abandoning her to an uncertain fate, he's done something truly sinful.
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As Shiftlet drives on he becomes more depressed. The afternoon becomes sultry and hot and a storm deject gathers in the distance. The narrator notes that there "were times" when Shiftlet preferred non to exist lone. Shiftlet reflects that "a human being with a machine had a responsibility to others" and keeps an centre out for hitchhikers. He also sees a billboard that says "Drive carefully. The life you save may be your ain."
Shiftlet is upset afterwards abandoning Lucynell, but he can't seem to clear why. The narration suggests he feels lonely in this moment, but the vagueness and distance of the linguistic communication—"there were times"—reads similar he can't identify these feelings of loneliness and guilt on his own. All the same, he seems to want to atone for something by picking upwardly a hitchhiker. The gathering tempest clouds symbolize his dark mood the way the blue sky symbolized his earlier optimistic 1. The billboard, which contains the championship of the story, suggests that salvation is available to Shiftlet if he "drives carefully"—that is, if he behaves with virtue, and turns the motorcar around.
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As the sunday begins to set Shiftlet sees a small shack. He stops for a hitchhiker, a young boy in overalls who doesn't take his thumb out merely is carrying a cheap suitcase. The boy says nothing earlier getting in the car. His silence bothers Shiftlet, so Shiftlet starts talking about his mother, how much she taught him about right and wrong, and how much he regrets leaving her. "My mother was an angel of Gawd," he says, tearing upward and slowing downwards the car. The male child yells insults about both their mothers and jumps out of the moving car into a ditch.
The come across with the hitchhiker rattles Shiftlet considering his effort at atonement—kindness to a stranger, praise towards his mother, an "angel of Gawd" similar Lucynell—is roundly rejected. The hitchhiker has no involvement in Shiftlet's rambling memories of a female parent's love, and indeed is so offended by them that he jumps out of the moving car. Shiftlet's attempt at an human action of generosity therefore fails completely.
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Shiftlet is so shocked he drives for a while with the door open. More than storm clouds begin to get together. He feels every bit if "the rottenness of the earth was about to engulf him." He cries out to God, request Him to wash the slime from the world. The rain begins to autumn and eventually crashes over the rear of Shiftlet's motorcar, but he steps on the gas and races the shower into Mobile.
Shiftlet is upset by this encounter, and the gathering storm clouds mirror his darkening mood. The "rottenness" of the world, a frequent motif throughout the story, finally reaches its summit in his mind, every bit if information technology's "about to engulf" him—which is curious, equally he still seems to view himself equally a victim of the budgeted rottenness rather than an active participant. His prayer to God for a cleanse of the "slime" contrasts with his delivery to fugitive the rain storm that most closely symbolizes the kind of biblical alluvion he seems to be asking for. As he continues to race the rain towards Mobile, he seems to have learned cipher.
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