“The Fan Club” combines foreshadowing—hints about future events—and misdirection, which leads readers to anticipate an incorrect outcome, to shape expectations about Laura’s role in the story. The narrative primes readers with Laura’s anxiety, encouraging the assumption that she will be the target of the “in” group’s cruelty. This expectation is disrupted when Laura realizes that “it [is] only Rachel” they are attacking (4), revealing that her fear was misplaced. 

While the narrative misdirects readers, it also foreshadows Laura’s eventual complicity. Her internal judgments of Rachel—for instance, her unflattering impression of the “raggedy edge of lace” on Rachel’s slip (2)—and her silence when Ellen invites her to mock Rachel before class reveal her internalization of Class, Ethnicity, and Appearance as Sources of Social Power.

By pairing misdirection with foreshadowing, Maynard exposes the gap between Laura’s experiences and values on the one hand and her actions on the other. This tension adds to the story’s exploration of both The Impact of Peer Pressure on Behavior and Bystander Silence as Complicity, as Laura first participates in the cruelty through her silence and later through direct bullying.

In “The Fan Club,” Maynard uses situational irony—a contrast between what is expected and what actually happens—to expose Laura’s hypocrisy. During her speech, in particular, Laura criticizes discrimination and the inaction that allows it to continue, arguing, “[M]ost people don’t care enough about others […] I think we’re all responsible for people that haven’t had some of the advantages” (3). Her speech and her internal recognition of social inequality position Laura as morally aware. However, her behavior contradicts this awareness. Although she attempts to dismiss social differences—“She couldn’t let that matter” (1)—her private judgment of Rachel and her eventual participation in Rachel’s bullying reveal that she has internalized many of her classmates’ prejudices and, just as significantly, values her own social position more than addressing harm. Through this contradiction, Maynard proposes that recognizing injustice does not prevent participation in it, particularly in environments shaped by peer pressure.