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Literary Devices
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
Foreshadowing
Explanation and Analysis—Deutscher for President:
When Eckels first sees the Time Machine, he imagines using it to escape the results of yesterday's election had the outcome been different. In entertaining the possibility, Eckels foreshadows the irony of the story's ending:
A real Time Machine […] Makes you think. If the election had gone badly yesterday, I might be here now running away from the results. Thank God Keith won. He’ll make a fine President of the United States.
By ruminating on what might have been, Eckels foreshadows the final twist, where Deutscher wins the election instead and therefore irrevocably changes the future. Eckels believes that Deutscher—the "anti-everything man"—will bring about an authoritarian regime and threaten the freedoms of the people.
Eckels's comment is also laced with situational irony because the outcome that he foreshadows is precisely the opposite of what he expected. Before Eckels leaves for the safari, Keith has won the election, but when he returns, his world has been turned upside down: Deutscher, the candidate he feared most, is the new president.
The story adds another layer of irony here: Eckels states that he "might be here now running away from the results." However, when Eckels returns to 2055 and realizes that Deutscher has won the election, he is not able to run from the results. Before Eckels can comprehend the implications of his actions, Mr. Travis kills him with "a sound of thunder."
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—The Time Machine:
In the passage below, Mr. Travis lectures Eckels on the grave dangers of the Time Machine, which foreshadows the story's disastrous conclusion:
A Time Machine is finicky business. Not knowing it, we might kill an important animal, a small bird, a roach, a flower eve, thus destroyed an important link in a growing species [...] The stomp of your foot, on one mouse, could start an earthquake, the effects of which could shake our earth and destinies down through Time, to their very foundations […] So be careful. Stay on the Path. Never step off!
By bringing the reader into a world where time travel is possible and then outlining the risks of the Time Machine, the story paints the ending as inevitable. Eckels does precisely what Mr. Travis instructs him he should never do, making Mr. Travis's fears a reality. Though the description of time travel's repercussions appears hyperbolic, it accurately predicts the consequences of Eckels's actions later in the story. When Eckels steps off the path and inadvertently crushes a butterfly, he creates a ripple effect over millions of years and shakes the world's destiny. However, the change to the English spelling system is the least of Eckels's worries. Disregarding the rules may have caused his worst nightmare to come true: the rise of authoritarianism.
Related Themes:
