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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
Part 1, Chapter 3
Explanation and Analysis—Building Suspense:
Within the nonlinear storytelling of Beloved, the novel presents the reader with fragmented images of the past that foreshadow eventual flashbacks. For example, Sethe uses the imagery of mossy teeth to reflect her fear of white boys in Chapter 3:
The voice, saying, “Who’s in there?” was all she needed to know that she was about to be discovered by a whiteboy. That he too had mossy teeth, an appetite. That on a ridge of pine near the Ohio River, trying to get to her three children, one of whom was starving for the food she carried; that after her husband had disappeared; that after her milk had been stolen, her back pulped, her children orphaned, she was not to have an easeful death. No.
This imagery and the fragmented glimpses of the past that Sethe offers confuse the reader, who has not yet learned of the complete context of Schoolteacher’s pupils stealing her breast milk. By only giving pieces of the story, Beloved builds suspense by leaving the reader with questions, which enhances the novel's ominous tone and the emotional payoff of the reveals. Furthermore, this fragmentation reflects how the influence of trauma on her perception scatters Sethe's memories.
However, the novel also engages with foreshadowing within its chronological storytelling. For example, in Chapter 14, Beloved's tooth falls out, foreshadowing her eventual disappearance:
Beloved looked at the tooth and thought, This is it. Next would be her arm, her hand, a toe. Pieces of her would drop maybe one at a time, maybe all at once. Or on one of those mornings before Denver woke and after Sethe left she would fly apart.
Beloved reveals that her existence depends on the attention of Denver and Sethe, which implies that her tooth falls out due to Sethe thinking of building a future with Paul D. This scene signals the beginning of Beloved's demise, foreshadowing how she will eventually be abandoned by Sethe on the doorstep of 124 and disappear as a result.
Related Themes:
Part 1, Chapter 14
Explanation and Analysis—Building Suspense:
Within the nonlinear storytelling of Beloved, the novel presents the reader with fragmented images of the past that foreshadow eventual flashbacks. For example, Sethe uses the imagery of mossy teeth to reflect her fear of white boys in Chapter 3:
The voice, saying, “Who’s in there?” was all she needed to know that she was about to be discovered by a whiteboy. That he too had mossy teeth, an appetite. That on a ridge of pine near the Ohio River, trying to get to her three children, one of whom was starving for the food she carried; that after her husband had disappeared; that after her milk had been stolen, her back pulped, her children orphaned, she was not to have an easeful death. No.
This imagery and the fragmented glimpses of the past that Sethe offers confuse the reader, who has not yet learned of the complete context of Schoolteacher’s pupils stealing her breast milk. By only giving pieces of the story, Beloved builds suspense by leaving the reader with questions, which enhances the novel's ominous tone and the emotional payoff of the reveals. Furthermore, this fragmentation reflects how the influence of trauma on her perception scatters Sethe's memories.
However, the novel also engages with foreshadowing within its chronological storytelling. For example, in Chapter 14, Beloved's tooth falls out, foreshadowing her eventual disappearance:
Beloved looked at the tooth and thought, This is it. Next would be her arm, her hand, a toe. Pieces of her would drop maybe one at a time, maybe all at once. Or on one of those mornings before Denver woke and after Sethe left she would fly apart.
Beloved reveals that her existence depends on the attention of Denver and Sethe, which implies that her tooth falls out due to Sethe thinking of building a future with Paul D. This scene signals the beginning of Beloved's demise, foreshadowing how she will eventually be abandoned by Sethe on the doorstep of 124 and disappear as a result.
Related Themes:
