In The Lower Depths the main events are foreshadowed before they occur. First, in Act II Pepel and Kostilioff are arguing heatedly, and as the conflict comes to a head, Luka makes his presence known, ostensibly to prevent Pepel from striking Kostilioff and getting himself into trouble. This foreshadows the fact that Pepel will in fact strike Kostilioff in Act III and inadvertently kill him. Earlier in the same scene, Luka tells a story of a man who believed in a land of justice, but when he learned it didn't exist, he killed himself. Later, in Act IV, the Actor interjects into the conversation that soon he will be gone, and quotes, " 'this hole here... it shall be my grave..."' Shortly afterward he actualizes those words, and, like the disillusioned man in Luka's story, commits suicide.