Previous
Allegory
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 1
Explanation and Analysis—Predicted Murder:
Foreshadowing, which is often used to build suspense or expectation, occurs when an author gestures towards events that have yet to take place. But Jazz uses foreshadowing in a particularly unusual way: it foreshadows an event that never comes to pass. Near the beginning of the book, the narrator predicts a murder:
... when spring came to the city Violet saw, coming into the building with an Okeh record under her arm and carrying some stewmeat wrapped in butcher paper, another girl with four marcelled waves on each side of her head. Violet invited her in to examine the record and that's how that scandalizing threesome on Lenox Avenue began. What turned out different was who shot whom.
Here, the narrator obliquely predicts that the events that occurred between Joe, Violet, and Dorcas will repeat themselves between Joe, Violet, and Felice. She doesn't trust Joe or Violet and expects that another murder will occur, though this time it may not be the same victim or perpetrator.
Near the end of the book, Felice does indeed enter Violet and Joe's apartment with an Okeh record and some stewmeat; but instead of resulting in violence, Felice, Violet, and Joe connect with each other over the tragedy of Dorcas's death. This unexpected turn of events contributes to Morrison's argument that trauma doesn't have to repeat itself and that instead it can turn into a powerful site of human connection and love. By foreshadowing an event that never comes to pass, Morrison also highlights the narrator's own transformation. She grows from someone who is suspicious, gossipy, and slightly arrogant about her own perceptiveness to someone who is aware of her flaws, the fallibility of narration and interpretation, and the complexity of what it means to be human. This unusual foreshadowing also gestures to the book's own complexity: by subverting expectations, Morrison draws the form of her novel even closer to the improvisation of jazz music.
Related Themes:
