Previous
Foil
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—A Loaded Gun:
After a physical fight with his brother, Qui, Gan returns to his family kitchen. He has just witnessed Bram Lomas's birth procedure and understands that his fate, too, may lead to a similarly ghastly scene. In a moment of foreshadowing, Gan once again takes out the illegal gun his family has hidden in a pipe:
I got up, took the rifle from its hiding place, and sat down again with it. It needed cleaning, oiling.
All I did was load it.
The audience is once again reminded of the gun's violent potential, especially considering its very presence is illegal. The Tlic fear guns and do not want Terrans to possess them because of the danger these weapons may present to the Tlic.
Rather than cleaning the gun, Gan loads it. He knows that he is breaking the law and could bear consequences from T'Gatoi, a major political leader, for even possessing the weapon. However, this action demonstrates the shift in Gan's feeling toward the Tlic and his relationship with T'Gatoi. Whereas previously, Gan was happy to serve as T'Gatoi's mate, he is now conflicted after witnessing Bram Lomas's extremely gruesome birth-giving.
Gan's loading of the gun foreshadows his outgrowing his adolescence and childhood, as well as an innocent or perhaps naive understanding of his place on the Tlics' planet. It also foreshadows how he considers suicide in front of T'Gatoi later in the story.
Related Themes:
