Foreshadowing  

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

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Foreshadowing or guessing ahead is a literary device by which an author explains certain plot developments that may come later in the story. It is used to arouse and mentally prepare the listener for how the story will proceed and unfold.

A hint that is designed to mislead the audience is referred to as a red herring. A similar device is the flashforward (also known as prolepsis). However, foreshadowing only hints at a possible outcome within the confinement of a narrative. A flashforward is a scene that takes the narrative forward in time from the current point of the story in literature, film, television, and other media.

Examples

• Foreshadowing is used in much of 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."

• Foreshadowing can be carried out by characters predicting the future. Cassandra in The Iliad has the explicit ability to foresee the future and make a prophecy. She predicts that her son will come to a bad end if he doesn't change his ways or character. Similarly, omens, such as breaking a mirror, can be used to foreshadow bad luck.

See also

• Chekhov's gun