Theme Of Foreshadowing In A Good Man Is Hard To Find

770 Words2 Pages

In "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor, the author successfully uses the literary technique of "foreshadowing" to enhance and to support her story. The story is presented mostly from the point of view of the grandmother. Near the end, the grandmother is killed following the death of her entire family. In the course of this story, she put a good uses of imagery to foreshadow the people and the events. These are times are when describing how the grandmother dress, the family’s death, and the conversation between the Misfit and the grandmother.
In the story's beginning, the grandmother disagrees with her son, Bailey, who wants everyone to go to Florida. She would rather go to Tennessee to visit friends. When the family awakes to
The grandmother and grandchildren convince Bailey to take a detour down an old dirt road to see an old plantation home. "Outside of Toombsboro she woke up and recalled an old plantation that she had visited in this neighborhood once when she was a young lady"(O’Connor 15). It was called "Toombsboro" and similar to the two words "tombs" and "bury." When it's pronounced with a southern accent it becomes "Tombsbury."
The conversations between The Misfit and the Grandmother are quite interesting. When she is face-to-face with him and her death is imminent, she is the least willing of the family to accept it. Only the grandmother attempts to talk her way out of the situation even though the rest of her family lies assassinated in the woods behind her. In a last effort to escape with her life, she offers The Misfit all the money she has. He responds, “‘Lady,’ The Misfit said, looking beyond her far into the woods, ‘there never was a body that give the undertaker a tip'” (O’Connor 30).
In O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find," there are strong symbols and images that allow readers to predict the inevitable events caused by The Misfit. The "foreshadowing" is just enough to be noticeable when read closely, but doesn't ruin the end of the story or lessen the reader's

Open Document