In Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” and David Leavitt’s “A Place I’ve Never Been,” the reader is able to see a glimpse into the lives of two different women who are unable to let go of the past. These two women, Grandmother and Celia, are trapped in a state of imagination where they cannot move on in their life. Through the tones of Grandmother from “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” and Celia from “A Place I’ve Never Been,” their hasty comments, and the imagery used in their imaginations, is is clear to the reader both Grandmother and Celia are unable to leave the past where it belongs—the past. In “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” Grandmother’s tone is seen as stern, repetitive, and old-fashioned when she is talking to her family and The Misfit. This is done through comments such as, “In my time, children were more respectful of their native states and their parents and everything else (O’Connor pg. 712).” Not only is this statement one of the many times Grandmother refers to “her time,” but it also shows the stern, hasty tone she uses to speak to her grandchildren. Before The Misfit shot Grandmother, she persisted, “I know you wouldn 't shoot a lady! I know you come from nice people! Pray! Jesus, you ought not to shoot a lady (O’Connor pg. 720)”. When glancing back before this …show more content…
Grandmother suffers from moving on from the past to modern day society, while Celia suffers from the inability to move on from a toxic childhood friendship. While Grandmother does not realize she is in this situation, Celia has come to this realization. However, she does not know how to fix it. Throughout both of these stories, the reader is able to recognize particular tones, hasty comments, and thoughts from both characters to conclude each character struggles to leave the past where it belongs—the