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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
Book 1: The Cruciform Tree
Explanation and Analysis—A Priest in a Thousand:
In a passage describing Father Latour for the first time, visual imagery and foreshadowing intertwine to explain the link between the priest's character and appearance for the reader. According to the speaker, he was
[...] a priest in a thousand, one knew at a glance. His bowed head was not that of an ordinary man,—it was built for the seat of a fine intelligence. His brow was open, generous, reflective, his features handsome and somewhat severe. There was a singular elegance about the hands [...] Everything showed him to be a man of gentle birth—brave, sensitive, courteous. His manners, even when he was alone in the desert, were distinguished. He had a kind of courtesy toward himself, toward his beasts, toward the juniper tree before which he knelt, and the God whom he was addressing.
Cather's description paints the younger Latour as calm and elegant in both his looks and his demeanor. This concept of the inner self matching the outer is relatively consistent throughout Death Comes for the Archbishop, where characters' external appearances often echo their personalities. This man is so refined that a person could understand “at a glance” that he was a special person. Latour is "a priest in a thousand," meaning that even among religious men he is a particular example of good character and breeding. He has an “open, generous, reflective” brow, which Cather tells the reader signals a fine intellect and a thoughtful nature. His handsome, somewhat severe features, elegant hands, and slight academic stoop signify his “gentle” birth. Even when he’s in dire straits, he is serious and courteous, treating God, the world around him, and himself with respect.
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