Refer to Explorations in Literature for a complete version of this story. Reread this example of foreshadowing from “After Twenty Years” by O. Henry. "... But I know Jimmy will meet me here if he's alive, for he always was the truest, stanchest old chap in the world. He'll never forget." Which statement best explains how the author's use of foreshadowing affects the story? It creates suspense by hinting at the fact that Silky Bob already knows that Jimmy will not show up to meet him. It adds to the surprise created later when it's revealed that Jimmy did meet Silky Bob; indeed, Bob is saying these words to Jimmy himself. It adds humor to the story since readers, unlike Silky Bob, already know that he's speaking to Jimmy when he delivers these lines. It creates mystery in the story by subtly suggesting that something awful has happened to Jimmy.

Foreshadowing is a literary device in which the writer gives hints about what is going to happen later in the story. This is what O. Henry does in his short story After Twenty Years.

The story tells about two close friends, Jimmy Wells and Silky Bob. They grew up together, but later they chose different paths. However, they made a deal - to meet in twenty years at the restaurant where they last saw each other. Twenty years later, Bob is waiting for Jimmy. A policeman stops by to question him, and Bob tells him his story, expressing no doubt that Jimmy would show up. That's when he says the words you were given as an example of foreshadowing. Soon after, a man who introduces himself as Jimmy Wells arrives, but Bob notices that his nose is not the same as Jimmy's. It turns out that the man is a plainclothes policeman who arrests Bob, a wanted criminal. He gives Bob a letter from Jimmy, and Bob realizes that the policeman he met earlier was in fact the true Jimmy. In the letter, Jimmy explains that, when he arrived at the meeting spot and realized that Bob was the wanted criminal, he didn't have the heart to arrest him and sent a plainclothes officer to do it instead.

Based on the entire story, we can conclude that the given example of foreshadowing adds to the surprise created later when it's revealed that Jimmy did meet Silky Bob; indeed, Bob is saying these words to Jimmy himself.