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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 III. Sometime a Fire
Explanation and Analysis—Familiar Faces:
When Caravaggio appears at the villa in the early chapters of The English Patient, he begins to reveal his past ties with members of Hana's family. During a scene in Chapter 3 when Caravaggio attempts to lead Hana in a partnered dance, Ondaatje foreshadows his largely-unknown connection with Hana's father:
Kip was sitting at the window, and she said she wanted to dance with the sapper. “Not until I’ve taught you, dear worm.” She looked up at Caravaggio strangely; that was her father’s term of endearment for her. He pulled her into his thick grizzled embrace and said “dear worm” again, and began the dancing lesson.
Related Themes:
Chapter IV. South Cairo 1930-1938
Explanation and Analysis—National Identification:
In Chapter 2, Caravaggio discovers that the English patient does not remember his name or his nationality. Disoriented and injured from the trauma of war, the patient lacks any physical or mental record of his identification. Caravaggio surmises that "One of the Arabs is probably wearing his name tag" because "All pilots who fall into the desert—none of them come back with identification." This moment foreshadows a later scene in the novel when, in Chapter 4, the English patient regains a partial sense of memory and recalls the culture of personal identity in Cairo during the 1930s:
Unlock with LitCharts A+There were rivers of desert tribes, the most beautiful humans I've met in my life. We were German, English, Hungarian, African—all of us insignificant to them. Gradually we became nationless. I came to hate nations. We are deformed by nation-states. Madox died because of nations.
Related Themes:
Chapter IX. The Cave of Swimmers
Explanation and Analysis—The Patient's Identity:
In the beginning of Chapter 6 of The English Patient, Caravaggio tells Hana about a Hungarian soldier he once knew of, who was a spy for the German military during the war. The soldier, named László de Almásy, was friends with many English soldiers and attempted to search for mythical ruins in the Sahara Desert. Caravaggio believes that the so-called "English patient" to whom Hana attends is really László de Almásy, but Hana argues that "It doesn't matter who he is. The war's over." Despite Hana's insistence that Caravaggio leave his theories alone, Caravaggio eventually uncovers the patient's true identity and thus reveals how his initial conversation with Hana foreshadows later events in the novel:
Unlock with LitCharts A+"So you have run me to earth.” “I came because of the girl. I knew her father. The last person I expected to find here in his shelled nunnery was Count Ladislaus de Almásy. Quite honestly, I’ve become more fond of you than most of the people I’ve worked with."
Related Themes:
Chapter X. August
Explanation and Analysis—Familiar Faces:
When Caravaggio appears at the villa in the early chapters of The English Patient, he begins to reveal his past ties with members of Hana's family. During a scene in Chapter 3 when Caravaggio attempts to lead Hana in a partnered dance, Ondaatje foreshadows his largely-unknown connection with Hana's father:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Kip was sitting at the window, and she said she wanted to dance with the sapper. “Not until I’ve taught you, dear worm.” She looked up at Caravaggio strangely; that was her father’s term of endearment for her. He pulled her into his thick grizzled embrace and said “dear worm” again, and began the dancing lesson.
Related Themes:
