Hart has degrees in English literature and creative writing, and she focuses her writing on literary themes. In this essay, Hart explores the sometimes transparent, sometimes concealed foreshadowing of events that appear throughout this short story.

In some ways, Anne Devlin has created her short story "Naming the Names" in the form of a murder mystery, inviting the reader to take on the role of the detective. She throws hints along the way, enticing readers to answer all the questions. These clues, however, are not easily detected even during a careful first reading. Most readers will have to make their way to the end of the story before the clues to the final outcome become fully comprehensible, thus making a second reading even more deeply appreciated.

The foreshadowing commences with the first line of the story. If the reader is to believe the protagonist, Finn McQuillen, the...