Foreshadowing
In this Arthur Rackham illustration, the Rhinemaidens warn Siegfried of a curse, foreshadowing the disasters of Götterdämmerung.
Foreshadowing or guessing ahead is a literary device by which an author hints what is to come.[1] It is used to avoid disappointment, and sometimes used to arouse readers.[2][3]
Example
- Foreshadowing is used in the works of John Steinbeck. In Of Mice and Men, Lennie accidentally kills a mouse, a puppy dog and finally Curley's Wife. This foreshadows his own death. When Carlson kills Candy's Dog, Candy told George, "I ought to of shot that dog myself" making George later chose to kill Lennie himself to save him from dying by the hands of a stranger. Doing it the way that Carlson did it was for the best because, "He won't even feel it." [4]
References
- ↑ Mogensen (2009). Along Literary Lines. Gyldendal. p. 55. ISBN 8702056178.
- ↑ Author's Craft - "Narrative Elements - Foreshadowing" Retrieved 2014-10-02
- ↑ Nicola Onyett (30 November 2012). Philip Allan Literature Guide (for A-Level): A Streetcar Named Desire. Hodder Education. p. 50. ISBN 978-1-4441-5376-7. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
- ↑ John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men, p 61, ISBN 9783125785021