Foreshadowing In A Good Man Is Hard To Find

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Literary Analysis Many readers would assume that a story titled “The Lottery” or “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” would revolve about a standard plot with characters and conflicts that would eventually end in a happy fairy tell ending. Nevertheless, Shirley Jackson and Flannery O’Connor have done almost exactly opposite of what the average story entails by adding major twists and turns to their stories to keep readers on the edge of their seats. The readers will notice they are constantly awaiting for the good to conquer throughout the story, but as the stories continue to move forward they have a much different ending than one would have imagined. As readers continue to move forward throughout the reading, he/she will definitely start to…show more content…
Many readers will likely indicate that they did not recognize the acts of foreshadowing until much later into the reading, if at all. In the story “The Lottery,” Jackson does an excellent job of concealing the foreshadowing by writing to specific details in the foreshadowing information. Just into the second paragraph, Jackson mentions that school is out for the summer, but the children are gathered rather uneasily (Jackson 1). At first, readers may assume this uneasy feeling is due to the extra time or non-structured day because school is no longer in session; however, this uneasily feeling is referencing the lottery/stoning that will be taking place later in the afternoon. Jackson also designates characters by foreshadowing names and using objects that hint towards the final outcome of the story; the postmaster Mr. Graves and the black wooden box are just two more examples of the foreshadowing Jackson uses throughout the story. In “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” O’Connor also uses several different means of foreshadowing throughout the plot. As the story is opening and the family is discussing which state to set off to; the Grandmother, who is not keen on heading to Florida, enlightens her son about the Misfit- an escaped criminal that does awful things to the people he encounters (O’Connor 137). This type of opening foreshadowing is very difficult for first time readers to latch onto immediately, but as the story continues readers may recognize what was referenced in the beginning. After departing in the car, Grandmother is dressed in one of her best outfits including a hat and white gloves; “In case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady” (O’Connor 138). Typically, when people are laid down to rest they are commonly dressed/buried in their best
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