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
Key Examples in The Island of Dr. Moreau
Chapter 2: The Man Who Was Going Nowhere
Explanation and Analysis—Mysterious Howling:
In Chapter 2, Prendick meets Montgomery, who has saved him from his initial shipwreck. Montgomery's mysterious response to a noise on the ship foreshadows the power dynamics on Dr. Moreau's island:
“Damn that howling!”
He suddenly left the cabin, and I heard him in violent controversy with someone who seemed to me to talk gibberish in response to him. The matter sounded as though it ended in blows, but in that I thought my ears were mistaken. Then he shouted at the dogs and returned to the cabin.
Related Themes:
Chapter 7: The Locked Door
Explanation and Analysis—Bluebeard's Chamber:
In Chapter 7, Moreau stops Montgomery from showing Prendick the entirety of his house. He alludes to the French folktale "Bluebeard" in a way that foreshadows his own bloody end and Prendick's inheritance of the island:
Unlock with LitCharts A+"I’m sorry to make a mystery, Mr. Prendick—but you’ll remember you’re uninvited. Our little establishment here contains a secret or so, is a kind of Bluebeard’s Chamber, in fact. Nothing very dreadful really—to a sane man. But just now—as we don’t know you—”
“Decidedly,” said I; “I should be a fool to take offence at any want of confidence.”
Related Themes:
Chapter 9: The Thing in the Forest
Explanation and Analysis—Headless Rabbit:
In Chapter 9, Prendick tries to run away from Moreau's House of Pain and encounters many things that horrify him, including a rabbit's decapitated body. The dead rabbit foreshadows not only the horror to come, but also the particular way in which Moreau's delicate new society will fall:
Unlock with LitCharts A+And then in the shadow of some luxuriant ferns I came upon an unpleasant thing, the dead body of a rabbit, covered with shining flies but still warm, and with its head torn off. I stopped aghast at the sight of the scattered blood. Here at least was one visitor to the island disposed of!
Related Themes:
