Read the excerpt from flannery o’connor’s “the life you save may be your own.” the daughter could not see far in front of her and continued to play with her fingers. although the old woman lived in this desolate spot with only her daughter and she had never seen mr. shiftlet before, she could tell, even from a distance, that he was a tramp and no one to be afraid of. his left coat sleeve was folded up to show there was only half an arm in it and his gaunt figure listed slightly to the side as if the breeze were pushing him. the characters in the excerpt are an example of the inexplicably violent. religious fundamentalists. the racially intolerant. people with disabilities.