A Good Man Is Hard To Find Foreshadowing Analysis

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Foreshadowing and the Anticipation of a Conclusion When reading, the audience always has some level of anticipation in regards to how the story may end. For some people the suspense is too much so they may skip to the end of a story to find out what happens. Moreover, some readers are so invested in what they are reading, they pick up on subtle clues left by the author in order to predict how a story may conclude. “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, by Flannery O’Connor is one of such stories. Careful readers should, and most likely do anticipate the ending. This is due to many reasons, one of them being the amount of foreshadowing. There were numerous clues put in place to signify how the story would end. Yet the ending came as a surprise. The conclusion was troubling not because it was unexpected, but because of the implication of violence. The initial basis leading to anticipation of the story’s conclusion was all the foreshadowing. Even within the first few paragraphs of the story there were clues put in place as to what would happen. One of the leading characters says to her son ‘“Here this fellow that calls himself The Misfit is aloose from the Federal Pen and headed toward Florid…” (202). Then the woman goes on to say ‘“I wouldn’t take my children in …show more content…
There were numerous instances of foreshadowing; from the beginning, the middle, and even towards the end. Careful readers should have picked up on all the clues that there was to be tragedy ahead. Even so, there really was no way for even the most careful reader to pick up on exactly what would happen in the conclusion. Also the ending of the story was troubling though slightly expected. This story like many, is what makes reading worth the effort. There was great build up and effective foreshadowing but not even the most careful of reader’s would entire know what a story’s conclusion will