Examples Of Foreshadow

Foreshadowing: Clues or hints that suggest what will happen later in a story. One fine example of foreshadowing is the short story, ‘A Monkey’s Paw,’ by W.W. Jacobs. In this story, the use of foreshadowing foretells many of the future plot points and creates suspense by doing so. Shows of foreshadowing are shown throughout the like the sentence, “Father and son were at chess, the former, who possessed ideas about the game involving radical changes, putting his king into such sharp and unnecessary perils... (Paragraph 1).” Or, another sentence that foreshadows events to come is perhaps, “‘Might drop on his head from the sky,’ said the frivolous Herbert.(Paragraph 70).” With more explanation and understanding the uses of foreshadowing, it’s easy to see the suspense created by W.W. Jacobs in the short story, ‘A Monkey’s Paw.’

To begin, an example of suspense

Jacobs’ short story that exemplifies the author’s great use of foreshadowing is, “‘Might drop on his head from the sky,’ said the frivolous Herbert (Paragraph 70).” From one look, it may seem as though Herbert is simply joking around, and from the perspective of a fellow character, he is, but through the eyes of the audience, something else is also noticed. The dread that arises from the knowledge that statements so plainly stated often come true in the sense of fiction, is a key sign of suspense created by utilization of foreshadowing. With the citation’s context, early on in the story it clues to something bad happening as a result of wishing on the monkey’s paw. This worry is proven not much later in the story as we soon realize alongside Mr. White, that the Sergeant­Major’s warnings were true. Since he (Mr. White) did not heed his friends advice and instead acted with little thought, it resulted in grave repercussions. Herbert’s joking comment actually forebodes these coming repercussions, as he jokes about the money falling from the sky onto his father’s head,