Just you read it. I wouldn't take my children in any direction with a criminal like that aloose in it. I couldn't answer to my conscience if I did (472).
To be sure, O"Connor would not have given mention of the Misfit so early in the story if he were not to play a key role within the work, and, more specifically, within the family's lives. This detailed account of the Misfit directly foreshadows the family's encounter with him later in the story, leaving the reader to ponder how and when the encounter will take place. By cluing the reader in to the Misfit and his viciousness, O"Connor has piqued the reader's curiosity and set the stage for the tragic ending.
A more obscure account of foreshadowing occurs when the family is preparing to leave for Florida and the grandmother is the first one in the car, with Pitty Sing, her cat, hidden in a basket because "she didn't intend for the cat to be left alone in the house for three days because he would miss her too much and she was afraid he might brush against one of the gas burners and accidentally asphyxiate himself. Her son, Bailey, didn't like to arrive at a motel with a cat" (473). The cat will eventually play a large role in the family's misfortunes, but, upon first reading, one does not realize this. It is tremendously ironic that the grandmother is worried about Pitty Sing suffocating himself if he was left at home, when he ultimately becomes a key factor in the story's dreadful final events.
Another striking example of foreshadowing occurs when the family is on their way to Florida and the grandmother has dressed in her Sunday best so that "in case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the road would know at once that she was a lady" (473). The grandmother does not realize that she has just predicted her own demise, but the reader immediately picks up on O"Connor's plans for the family by the story's conclusion. In an ironically twisted way, the mention of an accident is an interesting and significant part of the story because, though an accident was not the primary cause of the family's deaths, one did undeniably contribute greatly to sealing their fate.
