Previous
Foil
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 1
Explanation and Analysis—I Was Suddenly Afraid:
The novel’s first instance of foreshadowing happens early in the work, when David is still recounting memories from his childhood. In Part 1: Chapter 1, he reflects on his night spent with Joey:
But above all, I was suddenly afraid. It was borne in on me: But Joey is a boy. I saw suddenly the power in his thighs, in his arms, and in his loosely curled fists. The power and the promise and the mystery of that body made me suddenly afraid. The body suddenly seemed the black opening of a cavern in which I would be tortured till madness came, in which I would lose my manhood. Precisely, I wanted to know that mystery and feel that power and have that promise fulfilled through me.
David traces his first moment of self-discovery to this otherwise ordinary afternoon as an over-lusty teenager. He and Joey have spent an afternoon on Coney Island, wandered the streets, and now exchange playful touches with each other in Joey’s bedroom. As David makes love to Joey, he realizes that “my heart was beating in an awful way.” He also uncovers his shame: David recognizes the “vileness” in the “sweet disorder” of the bedroom and the “black,” rumor-filled cavern from which his desires spring. He comes face to face with the power and transgressiveness of his longings.
The night with Joey is still more notable for what happens afterwards. Hoping to clear his name, David breaks off contact with his friend the next morning and goes so far as to bully him in school. His awareness of shame acquaints him with fear and treachery.
David’s remembrance of dread is unique in that it figures as both an instance of flashback and foreshadowing. The memory of this distant affair shows how the past uncomfortably informs the future. As with Joey, he will fall for Giovanni, repulsed but attracted by his lover’s “artlessness” and youthful charm. And as with Joey, David will cruelly betray the one he loves in a foolhardy attempt to affirm his masculinity. Like the novel itself, this scene looks towards past and future at the same time, trapping its main character somewhere between both: David the narrator is sharing his memories in the present, revisiting the past as he helplessly awaits the morning. David, the work suggests, has no future because he can never overcome the tragic pattern laid down by his past.
Related Themes:
Part 1: Chapter 2
Explanation and Analysis—Burning in Fire:
In Part 1: Chapter 2, David recalls an unsettling moment of foreshadowing on the night he first meets Giovanni. While visiting Guillaume’s bar with Jacques, he flirts with his future lover and banters on about his American sensibilities. But he also meets another gaudily dressed regular, who sidles up to his seat with “horrifying lasciviousness” and foretells his doom:
‘Oh no,’ he said, ‘I go not to hell,’ and he clutched his crucifix with one large hand. ‘But you, my dear friend—I fear that you shall burn in a very hot fire.’ He laughed again. ‘Oh, such fire!’ He touched his head. ‘Here.’ And he touched his heart.
Despite David’s angry rebuffs, the unnamed habitué cautions him that Giovanni is “very dangerous” and warns that David “will be very unhappy.” The encounter itself seems even more unsettling through its emphasis on the trans woman’s appearance. David likens her to a “mummy,” lingering over his disgust at the man’s make-up and outfit choices. The “bloodless” face and black hair “violent” with oil add to the disturbing quality of the forecasts themselves. With bad teeth, “malice,” and “mockery,” the patron casts an uneasy shadow over the affair before it has even started.
The predictions ultimately do come to pass: David will fall for Giovanni and abandon him in a decision he will forever regret. He will cost Giovanni his life while suffering from a “heart growing cold with the death of love,” deeply unfulfilled and remorseful. His affair with Giovanni is hurtling towards tragedy, however he might try to resist it.
The source of such tragedy, she suggests, might lie more in David’s own internalized homophobia than any turn of fate. By provoking such strong reactions from David, the “mummy” seems to embody the protagonist’s own shame and self-loathing. She recognizes David’s desire and selfish repression, intuitively understanding its consequences. She peers into David’s insecurities and rightly predicts that David’s hell—when it comes—will be entirely of his own making.
Related Themes:
