Examples Of Foreshadowing In A Good Man Is Hard To Find

In one of O’Connor’s stories, A Good Man Is Hard to Find, her use of Foreshadow helps to make a story that seems like a simple tragedy, more cryptic and grotesque. O'Connor uses foreshadowing many times to clue the reader in on future events. One such passage reads as follows:

Two more pertinent points are made by the author, in regards to the grandmother, follow in quick succession; both allude to further yet-to-be seen gloom within the story. O’Connor writes of the grandmother “[s]he didn’t intend for the cat to be left alone in the house for three days because he would miss her too much and she was afraid he might brush against one of the gas burners and accidentally asphyxiate himself” (1043) and of the way she is dressed “[i]n case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady” (1043). These two observations are innocent enough on the surface but provide true intent on the foreshadowing that O’Connor uses throughout the story. It is these two devices, irony and foreshadowing, that I feel are prominent and important aspects of the story and are evidenced in my quest to decipher this story.

In William Faulkner’s short story A Rose for Emily the order of events, though ordered un-chronologically, still contains extensive uses of foreshadowing. Faulkner Foreshadows Emily’s inability to perceive death as finality, Homer Baron’s death, and the fact that she [Emily] is hoarding Homers dead body. Faulkner also uses precise detailing and dynamic repetition in certain areas that contain foreshadowing, to grasp the reader’s attention.

Another time foreshadowing was shown was also in the beginning of the book. On pg. 7 it said, “‘But

There were about six graves fenced, which was a factor indicating foreshadowing. And when John Wesley asked about where the plantation was, the grandmother replied, "Gone With the Wind," which was foretelling their demise. Red Sammy also narrated about "Two fellers come in here last week" in an "old beat up car." These people were the Misfit's goons, and they were offered free gasoline from Red Sammy's store, probably because of his fear that he was dealing with notorious killers. Red Sammy's wife also gave a warning by saying, "I wouldn't be a bit surprised if he didn't attact this place right here." This was a self-explanatory caution signal give by the store owners which was ignored. The family was in a town named as "Toombsboro," which name itself was a sign of foreshadowing.

Foreshadowing is another main element. One example appears when the grandmother is talking to Bailey stating that she would not take her kids anywhere that there is such a deranged killer on the loose (O 'Connor 276). Later as the grandmother is talking to John Wesley, she asks what he would do if he ever did run into the Misfit. He replies, ‘I’d smack his face” (O’Connor 277). As the family is riding, they see a large cotton field with five or six graves fenced in the middle of it “like a small island” (O’Connor 278). This simile represents a sense of foretold death.

Stupidity should be painful. When paired with a lack of common sense strife usually occurs. In severe cases natural selection transpires. In Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” natural selection literally expunges a single blood line due to the selfish actions of the grandmother. In her story, O’ Connor utilizes foreshadowing in order to effectively orchestrate the family’s untimely death.

Any good detective looks for clues or hints to solve a case. As readers, we act like detectives to put clues together and find out what really happened. Foreshadowing is similar to this because it gives us clues to see what will occur in a future event. In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck uses foreshadowing very often to tell us what could possibly happen. In this book, two men dream to have their own piece of land together, but they can’t buy it because they don't have enough money. The two men set out find a job for money but along the way, many obstacles are thrown at them, and some of them they ca

In my opinion the parts that helped boost the dramatic interest in the story, A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor, were the foreshadowing parts of the story. For example, when the family stopped at Sammy's Famous Barbeque, the grandmother started talking to the owner of the restaurant about two fellas who had done him wrong, and from there they started talking about the Misfit, "Did you read about that criminal, The Misfit, that's escaped?" (311), the grandma asked the owner. By talking about the Misfit throughout the story, I feel like it was adding to interest of the readers to know when he was going to appear. A symbol that I noticed in the story was the grandmother's hat, which to me represented her traditions as southern woman. I liked the way O'Connor used imagery to contrast the way the mother of the children looked like and how the grandma looked like by saying, "The children's mother still had on slacks and still had her hair tied up in a green kerchief, but the grandmother had on navy blue straw sailor hat with a bunch with a bunch of white violets on the brim and a navy-blue dress with a small with a small white dot on the print." (309).  The climax started when the grandmother realized that the house she was looking for was in Tennessee, I feel like from that moment there was no coming back.

Throughout the story, O’Connor uses several effective writing strategies to create an exceptional story. Firstly, as the point of view, she uses third person limited omniscient. This point of view is appropriate for the story because instead of being directly inside the protagonist’s head and seeing through their eyes, we see them from an outside perspective which allows for more mystery and for us to infer what they are thinking. Secondly, the author uses foreshadowing to create suspense and draw us in. An example of foreshadowing is at the very start of the story when the grandmother is reading the newspaper and finds out that the Misfit is heading for Florida, where the family is going. “I

In the story Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck uses foreshadowing to predict a lot of upcoming events in the book. An interesting quote that Steinbeck uses to tell what will happen in the story is “The best laid schemes of Mice and Men go often askew” is from a Poem called “To A Mouse.” This hints that the plan that George and Lennie have made will not follow through. The story is about two men traveling together in search for work, and when they find jobs they plan to make a stake then get out of the jobs and buy some land for themselves. Unluckily, they face some bumps in the road that spoils their plans.

Their were many examples of foreshadowing that I noticed in "A Good Man is Hard to Find", but a few were the death of the grandmother and her family and also the foreshadowing with the misfit. Throughout the story their is a death imagery. At the beginning when the grandmother is getting ready to go on a trip, she dresses as if she was going to die soon, "anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady". As the family passed by a cotton field in the car they notice that theirs about five fenced in graves, which possibly connects to the deaths of the five people in the car. The second example of foreshadowing is how the grandmother explains that she "wouldn't take my children in any direction with a criminal like

The play/ novel, “Of Mice and Men,” is full of foreshadowing. Everything from the title to the ending is foreshadowing. Every question you have about this story is answered through foreshadowing. Some of the more important instances are, the title, what happens in a town called Weed when George suddenly stops while telling Lennie a story about the ranch they wish to have, and a scene about a worker named Candy’s dog.” The first big hint of foreshadowing comes from the title.

A strong foreshadowing imagery can be read into these lines. Knowing the definite ending of the story, the grandmother?s elaborate dress symbolizes a preparation for her coffin. When a person dies, they usually are dressed in their best outfit, just like the grandmother was dressed in what seemed to be her Sunday best. A stronger foreshadowing is when O?Connor states the reason for the grandmother?s immaculate dress, "in case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady." She herself predicts her own death. Unfortunately, she doesn?t know this yet. Although this is beyond the parameters of this essay, it is interesting that in the grandmother's mind wearing her best clothes prevent any misgivings about her status as a lady IF she was to die. But as the Misfit later points out, "there never was a body that gave the undertaker a tip." The grandmother's perceived readiness for death is a stark contrast to her behavior when she encounters the Misfit; for she shows herself to be the least prepared for death.

A horrible epiphany of the truth about the plantation strikes the grandmother which then leads her family and herself to a mishap. It is significant that the story reveals how nowadays, circumstances are getting worse because before, everything was fine and this produces a positive effect to the young characters such as the grandchildren. Having said that, this is also the reason why they get into a misadventure where they encounter their vicious murderers.