The Effective Literary Form of Foreshadowing

OConnor efficaciously uses the literary device of foreshadowing to create an atmosphere of suspense for a family that is doomed. There ar several hints that point to the fate of the family in some(prenominal)(prenominal) the oer both theme of a world of change and chaos and in specific lines from the text. Death and doom are frequently discussed and plastered descriptive phrases, as early as the first sentence lead a reader to believe that doom is impending. Specific aloney the grandmother and her choices and her description of choices all contribute to the foreshadowing.Her choice of dress and her reasons given for that is one example, as is the computed axial tomography she chooses to bring and the animals role in the final example that leads to the finis of the family. The grans choice to take the dirt alley and her mistake of direction is the final example of the foreshadowing that can be contributed to the readers sense of an almost inevitable and negative end. Firstl y, the grandma does not wish to go on the trip, but agrees to go with certain pretenses. She refuses to leave her beloved cat at home while the family goes on their trip.The cat, Pitty Sing, is hidden in a basket as the Grandmother fears that the cat may die. OConnor writes, she was afraid he might light touch against one of the gas burners and strokeally asphyxiate himself. Her son, Bailey didnt like to survive at a motel with a cat (1135-1136). Her mention of both death and the inconvenience that bringing the cat would impose on the family evidences both foreshadowing and irony, as the cat does cause an accident and inconveniences the family in the worst way.Both the out of sight cat displayed by OConnor as the Grandmothers dilute for her familys wishes and her lost sense of direction, as well contribute to the peril that the family is placed in. The dirt road that the Grandmother advises the family to go down is explained in detail in an ominous manner and the plot turns e ven to a greater extent ominous as she realizes that she has the wrong road. OConnor writes regarding the character that a terrific thought came to herher eyes dilated and her feet jumped up the instant the valise moved, the newspaper top she had over the basket rose with a snarl and Pitty Sing, the cat, sprang onto Baileys shoulder (1140). This consequent does lead to a car accident on this abandoned, old road. Therefore, both the choice to bring the fateful animal and the choice to take the family in a wrong direction, sends a message of a foreshadowed and foreshortened future for the family.Finally, at the beginning of the fabrication, when the cat is introduced into the plot, the Grandmothers deception and dress are detailed. The foreshadowing of her outfit and accessories point to the fact that she has designed herself for death, in good example that it comes. Her collars and cuffs were white organdy trimmed with lace and at her neckline she had pinned a discolour spray of cloth violets containing a sachet. In case of an accident, anyone seeing her executed on the highway would know at once she was a skirt (1136).It should be noted that the idea or phrase of the word accident or accidental is used frequently in the story to show foreshadowing. In the citation with the cat and the uproar, there follows an automobile accident, where after the children visit several times both on pages 1140 and 1141, Weve had an ACCIDENT . The foreshadowing of the exercising of accident is only paralleled by the actions leading to the familys doom.In conclusion, OConnor efficaciously uses examples of foreshadowing in A Good Man is Hard to draw. Three of these examples illustrate this in the previous paragraphs and all tie in together to help the reader and literary critic understand that the story has deeper meaning and context than one may originally think. The frequent germ to accident or fear that something may happen accidentally all contribute to the underton es and overtones of death, deception, and doom in a world of change and chaos.