Foreshadowing

Last post, I wrote about similes and metaphors.  This time, I'll talk about foreshadowing.  These are two of many devices used in writing to make it more meaningful, more literary, than just a story with a simple narrative.

Most people who have taken an English class have heard of foreshadowing.  Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" is full of talk of suicide, hinting where the story was going long before either followed through with the hints.  This is not to be confused with foretelling.  The prologue reads, "A pair of star-crossed lovers took their life." This is simple foretelling.  I tell you it's going to happen, and then it happens.  In Shakespeare's day, playwrights were expected to tell you what was coming.  In modern literature, this is generally considered bad writing.  If you hear a plan laid out, chances are, everything will go differently, usually badly.  Now, foretelling is used most often to tell the reader is supposed to go, so when it goes differently, the reader knows what went wrong.

Foreshadowing is something else again.  Throughout the scenes of Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet both talk about death, how they'd rather die than lose each other, with comments about how "Life were better ended by their [families'] hate" than that they were separated.  Every suggestion of death enhances the sense of foreboding created by that prologue, building on each other until the main characters' demise, especially at their own hands, seems inevitable.

On the website Literarydevices.net, we're told,  "Foreshadowing in fiction creates an atmosphere of suspense in a story so that the readers are interested to know more."  Shakespeare tells the audience/reader in the beginning that Romeo and Juliet will die, but the suspense builds throughout the story as to how and what leads to it.  That website goes on to explain that "foreshadowing can make extraordinary and bizarre events appear credible as the events are predicted beforehand, so that the readers are mentally prepared for them."  A modern audience may find it hard to believe that two teenagers would kill themselves for each other after having known each other two or three days, but as mentioned before, by the end of the story, this choice seems inevitable for the characters.

Say a major character is going to sacrifice himself at the end of your story.  Through dialogue, phrases, or narrative, you hint at his sacrifice to come.  The story builds up toward the events at the end.  This happens throughout the Harry Potter series, especially in book seven.  The reader knows the hero will going to sacrifice himself in a conflict with Voldemort because it had been foretold and foreshadowed.  The prophecy in "Order of the Phoenix" tells the reader, "Neither [Voldemort nor Harry] can live while the other survives." This is a foretelling and a foreshadowing.  We know a conflict between the two is coming, and one will die.  Then, when we find out that Voldemort can only be killed after Harry dies, it's clear Harry has to die.  However, we don't know how it can possibly happen.  The narrative builds toward Harry's death, but yet, there are hints of the resurrection to come as well.  Fawkes the phoenix proves rebirth is possible.  Voldemort, too, is reborn in multiple ways.  We know and hope it can be done, but we're not sure how.   The foreshadowing builds toward these impossible events--death, rebirth, and triumph against all odds--and somehow makes them feel possible if not inevitable.

When you write your next story, try using hints toward the end to help your reader anticipate what is to come.  Try building suspense and meaning through foreshadowing.