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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 2
Explanation and Analysis—True Voyage is Return:
Whenever he travels as a child, Shevek finds equal importance in the return voyage as he does in the journey to his destination. The narration explicitly calls attention to the fact that his propensity for return foreshadows his journey to Urras:
To go was not enough for him, only half enough; he must come back. In such a tendency was already foreshadowed, perhaps, the nature of the immense exploration he was to undertake into the extremes of the comprehensible. He would most likely not have embarked on that years-long enterprise had he not had profound assurance that return was possible, even though he himself might not return; that indeed the very nature of the voyage, like a circumnavigation of the globe, implied return.
This explicit foreshadowing is careful not to confirm whether or not Shevek does return to Anarres, thus building some suspense. Shevek does ultimately return to Anarres, making the running thread of voyage and return satisfying.
The discussion of return also foreshadows other developments that are more subtle than Shevek's return to Anarres. In his first week on Urras, Shevek is taken to see Odo's grave, in the cemetery in the Trans-Sua district of Nio Esseia. On Odo’s grave are the words: “To be whole is to be part; true voyage is return.” Odo died on Urras and never saw Anarres. In light of this fact, Shevek experiences a realization that Odonianism was born in response to the conditions of life on Urras. The second phrase on the gravestone, in this context, seems to signify that Shevek (along with the ideas he carries within him) has “returned” to Urras in order to complete his understanding of Odonian philosophy. It also, however, foreshadows Shevek’s eventual return to Anarres, suggesting that every step on a journey is a return of a kind.
Finally, the discussion of voyage and return foreshadows the recurring motif of departure and reunion that characterizes Shevek’s relationship with Takver. The certainty of return, or just its possibility, enables their relationship to survive long periods of separation, as Takver notes on one of their reunion nights:
Look how far away he is, asleep. Look how far away he is, he always is. But he comes back, he comes back, he comes back.
For the entire novel, there is no guarantee of Shevek's return. Yet the possibility of return is what makes his voyage possible in the first place.
Related Themes:
Chapter 10
Explanation and Analysis—True Voyage is Return:
Whenever he travels as a child, Shevek finds equal importance in the return voyage as he does in the journey to his destination. The narration explicitly calls attention to the fact that his propensity for return foreshadows his journey to Urras:
To go was not enough for him, only half enough; he must come back. In such a tendency was already foreshadowed, perhaps, the nature of the immense exploration he was to undertake into the extremes of the comprehensible. He would most likely not have embarked on that years-long enterprise had he not had profound assurance that return was possible, even though he himself might not return; that indeed the very nature of the voyage, like a circumnavigation of the globe, implied return.
This explicit foreshadowing is careful not to confirm whether or not Shevek does return to Anarres, thus building some suspense. Shevek does ultimately return to Anarres, making the running thread of voyage and return satisfying.
The discussion of return also foreshadows other developments that are more subtle than Shevek's return to Anarres. In his first week on Urras, Shevek is taken to see Odo's grave, in the cemetery in the Trans-Sua district of Nio Esseia. On Odo’s grave are the words: “To be whole is to be part; true voyage is return.” Odo died on Urras and never saw Anarres. In light of this fact, Shevek experiences a realization that Odonianism was born in response to the conditions of life on Urras. The second phrase on the gravestone, in this context, seems to signify that Shevek (along with the ideas he carries within him) has “returned” to Urras in order to complete his understanding of Odonian philosophy. It also, however, foreshadows Shevek’s eventual return to Anarres, suggesting that every step on a journey is a return of a kind.
Finally, the discussion of voyage and return foreshadows the recurring motif of departure and reunion that characterizes Shevek’s relationship with Takver. The certainty of return, or just its possibility, enables their relationship to survive long periods of separation, as Takver notes on one of their reunion nights:
Look how far away he is, asleep. Look how far away he is, he always is. But he comes back, he comes back, he comes back.
For the entire novel, there is no guarantee of Shevek's return. Yet the possibility of return is what makes his voyage possible in the first place.
Related Themes:
