"They knew very well why he hadn't: because of the enormity of the knife descending and cutting into living flesh; ... He snatched his knife out of the sheath and slammed it into a tree trunk. Next time there would be no mercy."
( pg.38)
William Golding's use of foreshadowing makes the reader wonder if there will be a 'next time'; which draws them into the story further and keeps them guessing. As it turns out, there are multiple 'next time's. Jack will eventually go on to order the tribal dance that kills Simon. When the tribal dance ends and the boys realize they've killed Simon the reader remembers Jack's initial encounter with death and how he hesitated. Yet, after Simon and Piggy's deaths Jack throws a spear at Ralph; all value for human life is essentially gone and the boys have descended into chaos.
Good. I like that at the end of your analysis you consider not only the effect on the reader's understanding of the plot but also on our reading of the theme. This is what I'd like you to bring out more in a discussion of foreshadow. Too often we get stuck in the notion that foreshadow simply shows what happens next; we still need to consider how foreshadows what the author's theme is.
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