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
Chapter 3
Explanation and Analysis—Anticipating Bitterness:
In Chapter 3, the narrator discusses Johnny Nolan's past and family history, characterizing him for readers. In many ways, Johnny represents an American ideal of manhood. Attractive, funny, and ostensibly talented, he should be the perfect father and husband—except he isn't. The narrator foreshadows this revelation in the following passage:
Yes, everyone loved Johnny Nolan. He was a sweet singer of sweet songs. Since the beginning of time, everyone, especially the Irish, had loved and cared for the singer in their midst. His brother waiters really loved him. The men he worked for loved him. His wife and children loved him. He was still gay and young and handsome. His wife had not turned bitter against him and his children did not know that they were supposed to be ashamed of him.
The narrator anticipates the future bitterness Katie, Neeley, and Francie will feel for their father. This passage foreshadows his future misdeeds while simultaneously reflecting Francie's wishful thinking about her father. Already at a young age, she knows that other men ridicule him, but she wants to believe that her father is loved. Time disillusions Francie, just as it makes an alcoholic layabout of Johnny. Through her trials with her father, Francie learns about human duality—learns that Johnny, while wonderful in some ways, ultimately lacks the responsibility and drive required of a good parent.
Related Themes:
Chapter 7
Explanation and Analysis—Greatest Mistake:
In the following excerpt from Chapter 7, the narrator extemporizes about Katie and Johnny's young relationship—their hopes, dreams, mistakes, and vices. During this musing, the narrator foreshadows Katie's future marital disillusionments, which she suffers into Book 3 and beyond:
She'd ask nothing more than to look at him and to listen to him for the rest of her life. Then and there, she decided that those privileges were worth slaving for all her life. Maybe that decision was her great mistake. She should have waited until some man came along who felt that way about her. Then her children would not have gone hungry; she would not have had to scrub floors for their living and her memory of him would have remained a tender shining thing.
The narrator treats Katie's fate as a foregone conclusion, despite being in the midst of telling the family's story. Her children will go hungry, she will have to scrub floors to make a living, her husband will be a thorn in her side, rather than a source of support. The particular tone and mood set with this foreshadowing is one of abject tragedy. The narrator is even somewhat underhanded, appearing to judge the life decisions that led Katie to choose Johnny. The "privileges" Katie trades for, the narrator suggests, are not worth the sacrifices she must make. Her romantic view of the world, in which Johnny's beauty is all she needs, will eventually be sacrificed on the altar of pragmatism.
Related Themes:
Chapter 8
Explanation and Analysis—Nolan Lads:
In an example of incredibly blunt foreshadowing, the narrator directly alludes to Johnny's future death in the following passage from Chapter 8:
They were the pride of Shantytown, the tall, blond, good-looking Nolan lads. They had quick feet in shoes that were kept highly polished. Their trousers hung just so and their hats set jauntily on their head. But they were all dead before they were thirty-five—all dead, and of the four, only Johnny left children.
This passage treats Johnny's death as a foregone conclusion, rather than a dramatic and tragic circumstance. In more ways than one, Johnny's death is a foregone conclusion—albeit one he himself made.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn contends with the nature/nurture argument, asking whether a person's circumstances are based on biology, family, or environment. Johnny Nolan's tragic circumstances are familial and somewhat out of his control—but, ultimately, he is the one who chooses how to respond to his environment. One could argue that Johnny's personal attitude and his alcoholism are both factors that lead to his premature death. While Johnny becomes an alcoholic in response to circumstances beyond his control, he still makes a choice. Ultimately, the novel suggests that human fate is a combination of random chance and individual decision-making. Through Johnny and other characters, Smith explores the axis of nature/nurture for those born into difficult conditions.
Related Themes:
Chapter 14
Explanation and Analysis—Last Home:
In Chapter 14, Francie recalls a discussion she had with her father as a young girl. During this discussion, Johnny foreshadows his own demise, stating that the family's current house will be his "last home":
"Your mama and I have been married seven years already."
"Was I here when you got married?"
"No."
"I was here, though, when Neeley came."
"That's right." Johnny went back to thinking aloud. "Married seven years and we've had three homes. This will be my last home." Francie didn't notice that he said my last home instead of our last home.
The narrator calls direct attention to this bit of foreshadowing, observing to the reader that "Francie didn't notice" her father's ominous turn of phrase. This choice of words alludes to Johnny's health struggles and premature death, yet to occur in the novel.
It is curious that Johnny appears to have premonitions about his tragic fate. Johnny shares his tragedy with other family members, cursed alongside his siblings to die young and unremarkable. Johnny has a notion that something like this will happen, dreading the eventuality but resigned to it. He desperately wants to break the cycles of poverty, addiction, and errant hope he finds himself trapped in, but suspects that he will not.
Related Themes:
Chapter 15
Explanation and Analysis—Disillusionments:
In the following excerpt from Chapter 15, Francie endures an upsetting torment at the hands of another girl. Transfixed by chalkboard erasers, Francie attempts to approach the other girl as she cleans them. The girl taunts Francie with the erasers, spitting in her face. In a moment of foreshadowing, the narrator refers to this encounter as the "first of many" disillusionments Francie must experience:
The girl brought an eraser close to the mesh. Francie poked a finger through to touch the vari-colored felt layers blended together by a film of powdered chalk. As she was about to touch this soft beautifulness, the little girl snatched it away and spat full in Francie's face. [...] Francie turned and went down into the cellar and sat in the dark a long time waiting until the waves of hurt stopped breaking over her. It was the first of many disillusionments that were to come as her capacity to feel things grew. She never liked blackboard erasers after that.
In this passage, the narrator implies that life has greater disillusionments in store for Francie, foreshadowing the fact that she will suffer future familial, social, and romantic turmoil.
What this excerpt captures, critically, is the process whereby disillusionment turns to resentment—a common theme in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Through the above incident with the blackboard erasers, Francie's love and admiration for an object turn to bitterness. Not only is she disillusioned about her peers and their kindness, she "never like[s] blackboard erasers" again after this girl torments her.
Related Themes:
