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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 2
Explanation and Analysis—Door Without a Lock:
Mitchell uses a simile in a passage that describes Scarlett's strong though inexplicable attraction to the intellectual and dreamy Ashley, a son of the neighboring Wilkes family:
He looked on life and was neither heartened nor saddened. He accepted the universe and his place in it for what they were and, shrugging, turned to his music and books and his better world. Why he should have captivated Scarlett when his mind was a stranger to hers she did not know. The very mystery of him excited her curiosity like a door that had neither lock nor key. The things about him which she could not understand only made her love him more, and his odd, restrained courtship only served to increase her determination to have him for her own.
Chapter 17
Explanation and Analysis—Thermopylae :
As the Union forces make their way further South, many of the most vocal supporters of the Confederacy in Atlanta continue to deny the obvious: that the North is winning the war and will soon reach their city. Arguing, against Rhett, for the inevitability of Southern victory, Dr. Meade alludes to the 480 B.C.E. Battle of Thermopylae, fought between an alliance of Greek city-states led by Sparta and the Persian Empire:
Unlock with LitCharts A+He did not speak and Dr. Meade thundered, losing his temper: “Our men have fought without shoes before and without food and won victories. And they will fight again and win! I tell you General Johnston cannot be dislodged! The mountain fastnesses have always been the refuge and the strong forts of invaded peoples from ancient times. Think of—think of Thermopylae!”
Scarlett thought hard but Thermopylae meant nothing to her.
“They died to the last man at Thermopylae, didn’t they, Doctor?” Rhett asked, and his lips twitched with suppressed laughter.
Related Themes:
Chapter 59
Explanation and Analysis—Bonnie's Death :
Bonnie Blue’s death is foreshadowed moments before she breaks her neck while riding her horse:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Watch me take this one!
Memory rang a bell far back in Scarlett’s mind. There was something ominous about those words. What was it? Why couldn’t she remember? She looked down at her small daughter, so lightly poised on the galloping pony and her brow wrinkled as a chill swept swiftly through her breast. Bonnie came on with a rush, her crisp black curls jerking, her blue eyes blazing. “They are like Pa’s eyes,” thought Scarlett, “Irish blue eyes and she’s just like him in every way.”
Related Themes:
