Character Analysis: Saving Grace

Men: Can You Trust Them? In the novel Saving Grace, the author Lee Smith traces the spiritual journey of a young girl named Florida Grace Shepherd, or simply Grace. She is the eleventh child born to her father, Reverend Virgil Shepherd and his third wife, Fannie Flowers. Grace’s mother called her the ‘worrywart child’ (Smith 3). She loved her parents, but she did not like Jesus because He made them travel all the time, “And I actually hated Him when He made us take up traveling in His name, living with strangers and in tents and old school buses and what have you” (Smith 4). Grace considered Jesus to be her father’s “boss” because the family did whatever Jesus told Reverend Shepherd to do, making him unavailable to parent Grace in a healthy …show more content…
He lives on land that his family has owned for over a hundred years and owns Duty’s Grocery. His wife Ruth Duty becomes a big help to Fannie. Grace met Carlton Duty when the family car broke down on the way to Waynesville, again following the plan of the Lord. Mr. Duty was able to get the Shepherds a house. That is why the house at Scrabble Creek is Grace’s favorite. Carlton Duty seemed protective from the start. When the family moved into Scrabble Creek, “Carlton Duty brought a scythe to cut the waist-high weeds in the yard and clear a path to the toilet” (Smith 11). Grace thought God has sent Carlton Duty at the perfecting timing to help her father (15). Mr. Duty became Reverend Shepherd’s right hand man. Carlton Duty “caught religion” from Reverend Shepherd; he helped him build a church in Scrabble Creek and then became an elder (Smith 15). When Reverend Shepherd would go traveling, Mr. Duty was always there to check on the Shepherd family and to make sure they were safe. Even when Grace went off with her father she always called the Dutys to see how everyone was. When Grace comes back to Scrabble Creek Carlton Duty goes up to the house to check on her and make sure that she has enough firewood and food to eat (268). Carlton Duty was Grace’s father figure; he was always the stable male figure that stayed firm throughout the novel. At each stage in life in Grace’s life, the Dutys are present with her either in person, on the phone, or through the mail. Carlton and Ruth Duty have helped the Shepherd family since they met them at the beginning of the novel, their last name could have some significance. The author, Lee Smith, could have meant for the Dutys to have a duty and become Grace’s parents when she had