Life's Values

4 Pages 910 Words

Life’s Values
In Ozick’s “The Shawl” and O’Conner’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” the characters find themselves in different, trying circumstances. In these testing situations the character’s core beliefs and values they have acquired through life are shown throughout the story as well as in their horrific, climactic moment. Through symbolism, word choice and other literary devices the author displays varying life values in each of the characters.
The word choice in “The Shawl” paints a bleak picture. Rosa with “sore breast” and Stella, “her knees were tumors on sticks, her elbows chicken bones” (Ozick 1) display the tragic lifestyle that the two are facing. The two main women in the story are desperately hungry and tired. “Rosa and Stella were slowly turning into air” (Ozick 6). These descriptions and words create an image of a death camp. One can infer this though the author does not come out directly and say it. Throughout the whole story the description paints a picture of despair. In this particular situation Stella’s value become warped. Stella becomes envious of the child; “Stella wanted to be wrapped in a shawl,” (Ozick 1) like the sleeping baby Magda was. Rosa’s values however remain steadfast as she becomes fixated with ensuring the life of the child even though she is convinced that the child’s death is eminent.
The main symbol that appears in “The Shawl” is in fact the shawl itself. It becomes the source of life. The shawl is described as a “magic shawl” that could “nourish an infant for three days and three nights” (Ozick 5). The shawl was a source of warmth and support for the child. Rosa also found sustenance in the shawl; with it she was able to conceal the child from the danger of the camp. Stella reveres the shawl for warmth. She began to envy the child and eventually let her greed take over. She stole the shawl from the child and the n...