Answer:
Particular actions of characters can foreshadow future events or the ending of the story. In the second paragraph of The Lottery, children put stones in their pockets and make piles of stones in the town square:
Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones; Bobby and Harry Jones and Dickie Delacroix—the villagers pronounced this name “Dellacroy”—eventually made a great pile of stones in one corner of the square and guarded it against the raids of the other boys.
The first time we read the story, we don't think much of this detail, thinking that it's just children playing some innocent game. But, if we read the story again, we realize that the children are collecting the stones they are going to use to stone the lottery winner. There are more details foreshadowing the dark ending of the story and the fact that Tessie will be that year's victim, such as Tessie arriving late and Mr. Summers commenting that he thought (they) were going to have to get on without (her). When Mr. Summers asks whether the Watson boy will draw for him and his mother, we are not told why Mr. Watson wouldn’t draw as all the other husbands and fathers do, which suggests that Mr. Watson may have been the last year’s victim. Tessie goes hysterical when Bill wins the lottery, and we don't understand why all of this is going on until the first stone hits Tessie's head. All of these details make a lot more sense the second time we read the story, showing us how powerful foreshadowing can be.
