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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 The Great Gatsby
Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—Gatsby’s Fate:
Gatsby’s tragic fate—that he will die without having won Daisy back—is foreshadowed early on in the novel:
But I didn’t call to him, for [Gatsby] gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone—he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward—and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock. When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished, and I was alone again in the unquiet darkness.
Related Themes:
Chapter 3
Explanation and Analysis—The Car Accident:
There are several moments in the novel that foreshadow Myrtle Wilson’s death in a car accident. The first is an earlier accident that happens after one of Gatsby’s parties in Chapter 3:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Fifty feet from the door a dozen headlights illuminated a bizarre and tumultuous scene. In the ditch beside the road, right side up, but violently shorn of one wheel, rested a new coupe which had left Gatsby’s drive not two minutes before.
Related Themes:
Chapter 7
Explanation and Analysis—The Car Accident:
There are several moments in the novel that foreshadow Myrtle Wilson’s death in a car accident. The first is an earlier accident that happens after one of Gatsby’s parties in Chapter 3:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Fifty feet from the door a dozen headlights illuminated a bizarre and tumultuous scene. In the ditch beside the road, right side up, but violently shorn of one wheel, rested a new coupe which had left Gatsby’s drive not two minutes before.
Related Themes:
