A Retrieved Reformation

Foreshadowing is a narrative device in which the author drops hints or plants warnings about events still to come in the story. In “A Retrieved Reformation,” the opening scene shows Jimmy Valentine “assiduously stitching uppers” (1) in the prison shoe-shop, which foreshadows his opening a shoe store in Elmore as Ralph D. Spencer.

In the same scene, the warden tells Jimmy he’s “not a bad fellow at heart” and advises him to “stop cracking safes and live straight” (1). When Jimmy decides to stay in Elmore, he does exactly that—and saving little Agatha from the safe confirms that he actually is a good fellow at heart. Likewise, in the story’s final scenes, Ben Price appears in the Elmore bank. He says he’s just waiting for someone he knows, foreshadowing an eventual meeting with Jimmy.

In literature, irony subverts readers’ expectations about what should happen. Situational irony refers to situations in which events take a turn that’s completely different from the expected outcome, while verbal irony occurs when words take on a meaning that’s the opposite of what’s expected. “A Retrieved Reformation” includes both types.

Jimmy’s dialogue is full of verbal irony.