Analysis of literary techniques

Foreshadowing:
There were two points in the story where death was a big part of foreshadowing.  The line "death was coming for them, but they didn't know" was said right after the girls were described in their caskets.  The second time death was brought up was after Rhea and Rhonda arrived on their bicycles at Whipples ice.  The line says: "When death comes for you, you sometimes know and you sometimes don't."  The third and last time death was brought up was after Rhea and Rhonda's father was taken into custody due to the murder of the girls.  He kept telling the police that he would kill anyone he could get his hands on in the Whipple family because his little girls were dead.  The line says, "Did it mean anything special, or was it just an accident Rhea and Rhonda had taken six dollars from their grandmother and hour before?  Because death was coming for them; it had to happen one way or another."

Symbolism:
For the duration of the short story, it was evident that heat was used as a important symbol.  To start off with, the title of the story is "Heat" and the story opens telling the readers that it was midsummer and the heat was excruciating.  Every time heat was mentioned in the story, it reflected and symbolized how high the tensions were getting and how things were (figuratively) getting heated.  In a long paragraph just before the narrator explained how the girls were killed, there was an important reference to heat.  After the girls had teased Roger Whipple the narrator said, "It was burning hot in the sun; dust rose in clouds behind the girls.  Pretty soon they got bored with the game, though Roger Whipple even in his heavy overalls wanted to keep going."  After this quote was said, the story became more intense and the detailed description and complication of how the girls were killed was explained.

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