The Landlady Foreshadowing Analysis

Key Assignment One: “The Landlady” In “The Landlady,” by Roald Dahl, the author uses foreshadowing to alert the reader of the possible calamity that will befall the main character, Billy Weaver. Immediately, readers are provided with foreshadowing clues to the outcome of the story such as, “But the air was deadly cold and the wind was like a flat blade of ice on his cheeks” (Page 62). Roald Dahl drops hints ‘deadly cold’ and ‘flat blade of ice’, in the text, to foreshadow Billy's fate. Being that both statements are associated with violence, Billy may be in unavoidable grave danger. Then unexplainable events happen to Billy Weaver when he is trying to decide where to live, “...his eye was caught and held in the peculiar manner by the small notice that

Another foreshadowing clue that reveals to readers that Billy Weaver’s life is in jeopardy is, “Once more, Billy glanced down at the book. ‘Look here’, he said, noticing the dates. ‘This last entry is over two years old.’ ‘It is?’ ‘Yes, indeed. And Christopher Mulholland’s is nearly a year before that-more than three years ago’” (Page 66). It is highly peculiar for an extremely cheap bed and breakfast to have only a few visitors over the course of three years. This piece of information may reveal that the landlady has an ulterior motive besides earning money and receiving visitors. A final foreshadowing clue that convinces readers of what will happen to Billy Weaver is, “‘No thank you’, Billy said. The tea tasted faintly of bitter almonds, and he didn’t much care for it” (Page 69). The taste of bitter almonds in the tea is clearly unnatural, yet Billy does not realize it. Dahl is undoubtedly referring to the lethal poison, potassium cyanide; hence, readers know that Billy’s end will soon be upon him. Despite the many foreshadow clues given by Dahl, Billy Weaver ends up in a precarious position by the end of the story, and it is up to the reader to infer what will