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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
Part I
Explanation and Analysis—Herbert’s Death:
In an example of foreshadowing, Herbert sees a simian (or monkey-like) face in the fire after he successfully persuades his father to use the monkey’s paw to wish for two hundred pounds. The following passage captures the eerie way that the monkey seems to haunt Herbert in this moment:
[Herbert] sat alone in the darkness, gazing at the dying fire, and seeing faces in it. The last face was so horrible and so simian that he gazed at it in amazement. It got so vivid that, with a little uneasy laugh, he felt on the table for a glass containing a little water to throw over it. His hand grasped the monkey’s paw, and with a little shiver he wiped his hand on his coat and went up to bed.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Mr. White’s Manipulations:
Jacobs intentionally opens the story with Mr. White trying to manipulate Herbert into losing at chess, subtly foreshadowing Mr. White’s later attempts at changing his fate via the monkey’s paw. The following passage hints at Mr. White’s manipulative nature:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“Hark at the wind,” said Mr White, who, having seen a fatal mistake after it was too late, was amiably desirous of preventing his son from seeing it.
“I’m listening,” said the latter, grimly surveying the board as he stretched out his hand. “Check.”
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—The First Wish:
After Mr. White uses the monkey’s paw to make his first wish, he, his wife, and his son all sit silently by the fire. In this moment, they start to hear a door banging, an example of both imagery and foreshadowing:
Unlock with LitCharts A+They sat down by the fire again while the two men finished their pipes. Outside, the wind was higher than ever, and the old man started nervously at the sound of a door banging upstairs. A silence unusual and depressing settled upon all three, which lasted until the old couple rose to retire for the night.
Related Themes:
