The God of Small Things

by Arundhati Roy

The God of Small Things: Foreshadowing 2 key examples

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: Paradise Pickles & Preserves
Explanation and Analysis—Around the Coffin:

​​​​​​At the beginning of the story, Rahel describes Sophie Mol's funeral, where she lays in a coffin, beautiful yet wrinkled. The description of Sophie Mol in her coffin foreshadows the manner of her tragic death:

She lay in it in her yellow Crimplene bell-bottoms with her hair in a ribbon and her Made-in-England go-go bag that she loved. Her face was pale and as wrinkled as a dhobi’s thumb from being in water for too long. The congregation gathered around the coffin, and the yellow church swelled like a throat with the sound of sad singing. The priests with curly beards swung pots of frankincense on chains and never smiled at babies the way they did on usual Sundays.

Chapter 2: Pappachi’s Moth
Explanation and Analysis—The Terror:

In Chapter 2, the novel offhandedly foreshadows a tragic event called "the Terror," which creates a mood of dread and fear:

Of course that was then. Before the Terror.

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Chapter 9: Mrs. Pillai, Mrs. Eapen, Mrs. Rajagopalan
Explanation and Analysis—The Terror:

In Chapter 2, the novel offhandedly foreshadows a tragic event called "the Terror," which creates a mood of dread and fear:

Of course that was then. Before the Terror.

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