Jack O Connor's Use Of Foreshadowing Essay

The use of foreshadow is very prominent in several of O’Connor’s stories. This story shows a strong use of foreshadowing within character dialogue as well as the title. The book starts with the grandmother reading a newspaper. “Here this fellow that calls himself The Misfit is aloose from the Federal Pen and headed toward Florida and you read here what it says he did to these people...I wouldn’t take my children in any direction with a criminal like that aloose in it.” (O’Connor 430) Foreshadowing that the family will have the misfortune of encountering The Misfit. As the grandmother expresses that she would never take her children near criminals, O’Connor is also foreshadowing that the grandmother is not finished trying to get her way with the family trip. As the story progresses, the grandmother promises to tell the children a story if they keep quiet. After the children settle down she speaks of an old plantation …show more content…
After the car crash, the grandmother flags down a vehicle. The family is confronted by The Misfit and his group whom were in the vehicle that the grandmother flagged down. She is reasoning with them saying “You wouldn’t shoot a lady, would you?” (O’Connor 436) The grandmother is trying to force out the good in the Misfit. “‘Listen,’ she said, ‘you shouldn’t call yourself The Misfit because I know you’re a good man at heart. I can just look at you and tell.” (O’Connor 436) The Misfit is faced with the “good” of the grandmother while the whole family is dealing with the evil of The Misfit. “...first you and Bobby Lee get him and that little boy to step over yonder with you.” (O’Connor 437) With the misfit in charge killing was intentional from the start. Thus showing the Misfit’s evil. This continuous theme of good and evil has a link to a deeper theme of religion. Although O'Connor's writing is a little morbid many of her stories have a link to