In the story a life you save may be your own Mr. shiftlet appears at this old woman's house looking for work but gave no inclination of his morals for example "Lady," he said, "nowadays, people'll do anything anyways. I can tell you my name is Tom T. Shiftlet and I come from Tarwater, Tennessee, but you never have seen me before: how you know I ain't lying? How you know my name ain't Aaron Sparks, lady, and I come from Singleberry, Georgia, or how you know it's not George Speeds and I come from Lucy, Alabama, or how you know I ain't Thompson Bright from Toolafalls, Mississippi?".he tries to say it but it doesn't get conveyed through his action.I believe this is what doesn't work. Mr. Shiftlet has opportunities thrown at him that he misuses and ultimately leaves them for example his wife that he married was left at a gas station. Then the hitchhiker brings karma back to bite him in the butt.