The Life You Save May Be Your Own | Overview of The Life You Save May Be Your Own

In the following essay, the author traces the theme of Christian anti-materialism in ‘‘ The Life You Save May Be Your Own,’’ finding it ‘‘a cautionary tale of twisted priorities and excessive materialism which is consistent with a rich body of thought in American history.’’

While Flannery O’Connor builds several important themes into ‘‘The Life You Save May Be Your Own,’’ the anti-materialist aspect of the story deserves special attention because it fits into what could be characterized as the anti-materialist strain in American intellectual history.

Since the founding of the republic, prominent and common Americans alike have experienced conflicting emotions regarding material wealth. After the late eighteenth-century American Revolution, John Adams, the second president of the United States, wondered how it would be possible ‘‘to...

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