Hamlet & The Misfit: What was Flannery O'Connor Thinking?
In Hamlet, after the prince hears news from Horatio about the sighting of a ghost that appears to be Hamlet's father, Hamet says to Horatio: HAMLET: I would I had been there. This reminds me of what The Misfit in a Flannery O'Connor story says to the grandmother just before he shoots her: "I wisht I had of been there..." [Image via USPS.com] In Flannery O'Connor's famous short story, "A Good Man is Hard to Find" - a favorite of many fiction writers, including the late Raymond Carver - the Grandmother asks the Misfit to pray to Jesus. The Misfit comments that Jesus messed things up by rising from the dead: MISFIT: "I wasn't there so I can't say He didn't," The Misfit said. "I wisht I had of been there," he said, hitting the ground with his fist. "It ain't right I wasn't there because if I had of been there I would of known. Listen lady," he said in a high voice, "if I had of been th...