This symbolic moment foreshadows what would happen later, when Mrs. Crater envisions Shiftlet as her and Lucynell's savior, but he falls well short of that expectation.
A literary device known as foreshadowing is employed to convey a sign or a suggestion of what will happen later on in the storyline. In order to build suspense, anxiety, curiosity, or a sense that things might not be as they appear, foreshadowing might be helpful. The word 'hint' is essential to understanding foreshadowing. It's not necessary to directly reveal what might occur later in the story in order to foreshadow it. In fact, when foreshadowing is done well, many readers might not even recognize its relevance until the story's finale.
Even though suspense-building mystery novels frequently use foreshadowing, the technique is not just used in such books. In reality, foreshadowing works well in many genres of literature.
The aforementioned line (in the question) is related to Flannery O'Connor's short fiction, "The Life You Save May Be Your Own." Characters in the story include Mr. Shiflet, Mrs. Crater, and Lucynell.
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