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Definition of Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved directly or indirectly, by making... read full definition
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved... read full definition
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the... read full definition
Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—Back to the Beginning:
In the first chapter of the novel, Naipaul dedicates a few sentences to foreshadowing nearly the entire arc of the book:
That was, of course, before the Big Man came along and made us all citoyens and citoyennes. Which was all right for a while, until the lies he started making us all live made the people confused and frightened, and when a fetish stronger than his was found, made them decide to put an end to it all and go back again to the beginning.
Related Themes:
Chapter 14
Explanation and Analysis—Poison:
In Chapter 14, Naipaul foreshadows the dissolution of Salim and Yvette’s relationship with a simile. He writes:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Something had intervened; some new habit had begun to form, breaking up the delicate membrane of older memory. It was what I had been expecting. It had to be, one day. But the moment was like poison.
Related Themes:
