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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 3
Explanation and Analysis—Changing Apple:
In Chapter 3, Jonas recalls a rare moment from his childhood when he got in trouble for taking an apple home with him from school. The imagery in his memory of the apple foreshadows Jonas's discovery of color:
But suddenly Jonas had noticed, following the path of the apple through the air with his eyes, that the piece of fruit had—well, this was the part that he couldn’t adequately understand—the apple had changed. Just for an instant. It had changed in mid-air, he remembered. Then it was in his hand, and he looked at it carefully, but it was the same apple. Unchanged. The same size and shape: a perfect sphere. The same nondescript shade, about the same shade as his own tunic.
Related Themes:
Chapter 16
Explanation and Analysis—First Lie:
In Chapter 16, when Jonas's parents explain why they don't "love" him, Jonas tells them that he understands. This lie foreshadows Gabriel's kidnapping at the end of the novel:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“Do you understand why it’s inappropriate to use a word like ‘love’?” Mother asked.
Jonas nodded. “Yes, thank you, I do,” he replied slowly.
It was his first lie to his parents.
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Chapter 17
Explanation and Analysis—River of Memories:
In Chapter 17, Jonas spends an unscheduled holiday riding his bike along the river. The river becomes a metaphor that foreshadows Jonas's departure from the Community at the end of the novel:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Now, through the memories, he had seen oceans and mountain lakes and streams that gurgled through woods; and now he saw the familiar wide river beside the path differently. He saw all of the light and color and history it contained and carried in its slow-moving water; and he knew that there was an Elsewhere from which it came, and an Elsewhere to which it was going.
Related Themes:
