Foreshadowing In 'Time And Again'

“Time and Again” Literary Response Journal #1

Throughout “Time and Again,” the hogs play both direct and indirect roles from foreshadowing what will happen later in the short story or to cause the reader to make their own inferences about the hogs’ meaning in the story. The author uses the hogs to subtly hint at multiple ideas in the story. For example, the hogs can be used to explain the murders taking place in the area, the son’s mysterious disappearance, his mother’s death, the main character’s delusion with reality, and his possible suicide.

In the very beginning, the main character believes that he “ought to feed [the hogs] better than that awful slop,” (D’J Pancake, 1983, p. 83) possibly referring to human flesh obtained by murdering people while driving the snow plow. Since he has the

Another hint is given by the author when the hitchhiker revealed that only the bones were found after the murders with the exception of the “big retard.” (D’J Pancake, 1983, p. 87) This gives the reader yet another clue that the killer is the main character because he owns hogs. Hogs leave nothing but the bone once they have eaten all edible parts, hence only the victims’ bones being found.

The main character’s son’s disappearance is one of the main focuses throughout the short story, causing the reader to probe into what caused it. The hogs are used in connection with the son’s disappearance, helping to explain why it happened in the first place. After the son hears the hogs squealing and making so much commotion, he decides to identify the