In Three Times Lucky, Mo is preoccupied with the past and the events that brought her and the Colonel to Tupelo Landing. As for the Colonel, dude doesn't even remember his life before he got here—everything from before the car accident that led him to finding Mo floating in the creek is just gone. Mo pours over what little memories they have and reads newspaper accounts from that time period to understand more about their shared origins, but in the end, though she learns about how the Colonel came to Tupelo Landing, she ultimately realizes that it doesn't matter. What matters is the life they've all built together. The past is irrelevant.
Questions About Memory and the Past
- Why doesn't Miss Lana tell the Colonel about his past? What impact does this have on him, and what happens when he finally remembers?
- Why does Mo keep carrying around old newspaper clippings from when she was found as a baby? What do they offer her? Are there ways in which they hold her back?
- What is Miss Lana's relationship to the past? How does this affect her life in the present?
Chew on This
It isn't until Mo lets go of the past that she's able to see just how much she has in the present.
Miss Lana might think she's protecting the Colonel by not cluing him into his past, but the truth is that he can't really move past it until he confronts it head on.