Discussion+Questions

1.What emotions does this story evoke in you? Explain.

2.As the story ends, Mr.Shiftlet races into Mobile. What do you want to happen to him? Why?

3.What do you think this story suggests about the author's view of human nature? Do you share her view? Explain.

4.What agreement do Shiftlet and the old woman reach at the end of the first scene?

5.(a)What arguments does the old woman use to persuade Mr.Shiftlet to marry Lucynell? (b)Why does Shiftlet say he cannot marry her? (c)What causes him to change his mind?

6.What is the outcome of this story?

7.(a)What is the significance of Shiftlet's name? (b)What is the significance of the narrator's observation that Shiftlet's figure formed a crooked cross?

8.(a)What details in the first scene suggest that the old woman is not listening to Shiftlet's comments? (b)With what is she preoccupied?

9.How does Shiftlet's comment that the spirit is always on the move foreshadow, or hint at, the outcome of the story?

10.(a)What is the cause of Lucynell's innocence? (b)Considering the cause of her innocence, what does the story imply about a person's ability to remain innocent in the modern world?

11.How does the incident with the hitchhiker relate to the rest of the story?

12.(a)In what ways are the characters in this story realistic? (b)In what ways are they exaggerated?

13.Explain the title of this short story.

14.Do you think this story could have been written during another period of American history? Explain your answer.