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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
Key Examples in House Made of Dawn
4. The Longhair, July 25
Explanation and Analysis—Prosthetic Eye:
In Chapter 4, Father Olguin finishes reading Fray Nicolás's journal and feels a renewed commitment to his missionary work. Momaday uses a simile that foreshadows Olguin's epiphany at the end of the novel:
He replaced the letter and closed the book. He could sleep now, and tomorrow he would become a figure, an example in the town. In among them, he would provide the townspeople with an order of industry and repose. He closed his good eye; the other was cracked open and dull in the yellow light; the ball was hard and opaque, like a lump of frozen marrow in the bone.
Related Themes:
6. The Longhair, August 1
Explanation and Analysis—Dead Man's Arm:
In Chapter 6, after Abel kills Juan Reyes Fragua (who has albinism), he stares down at the man's exposed arm. Momaday uses a pair of similes that foreshadow Abel's struggle to assimilate in Los Angeles in the following section of the book:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The sleeve had been cut away, and the whole length of the arm and the open palm of the hand were exposed. The white, hairless arm shone like the underside of a fish, and the dark nails of the hand seemed a string of great black beads. He knelt over the white man for a long time in the rain, looking down.
Related Themes:
