The Three Strangers

One thing that makes "The Three Strangers" interesting is that the author use the foreshadowing technique in two of the three strangers that appears in the story. There is a lot of foreshadowing inthe story. This technique specialize in confuse the reader because the way that characters appears and involves in the story are a mysterious one. For example, the first stranger is described by Hardy(The author) as having a gaunt appearance; while this might seem like a minor detail, but truly this detail is what makes totally sense after read the whole story to complete the puzzle. The storydevelopes in England when a party of 19 people is assembled in Higher Crowstairs, a shepherd's cottage near Casterbridge. A stranger joins them to seek shelter for the rough weather. A second strangercomes in, and sings a song that reveals he's a hangman. A third strangers enters briefly, but then flees. They are interrupted by a gunshot, a signal that means a prisoner has escaped. The people leavethe cottage to seek the third stranger and arrest him because they think he is the prisioner. When they capture him, they bring him to Casterbridge jail, but surprisely he turns out to be the wrongman. The real prisioner was the first stranger a man named, Timothy Summers, who stole sheep out of poverty. The third stranger was his brother. At the end it won't be a hanging in the morning. Thefirst stranger is also notably evasive because he dint reveal any personal details when talking with the shepherd's wife. Here is where the technique of foreshadowing starts to work. At first sight Iignore the first stranger and jump to conclude that he third man is guilty and indeed is the prisioner. The reason for the author to employ these examples of foreshadowing is intended to maximize thesurprise that comes at the end of the story.
In addition to the entertainment value, the story reminds readers of the importance of paying attention to detail and not jumping to conclusions, a lesson...