It's nothing so sweet," mr. shiftlet continued, "as a boy's mother. she taught him his first prayers at her knee, she give him love when no other would, she told him what was right and what wasn't, and she seen that he done the right thing. son," he said, "i never rued a day in my life like the one i rued when i left that old mother of mine." what is ironic about mr. shiftlet's comments? he discusses his mother although he doesn't seem to actually have a mother. he has picked up a hitchhiker who has run away from his mother. he speaks about morals after having just abandoned his wife at a roadside diner. he clearly has no regrets about having left his mother when he was a younger man.