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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
Chapter 17
Explanation and Analysis—No Place For Children:
Bruno’s father wonders aloud if he should take his family away from Auschwitz, and Boyne uses foreshadowing to hint at the devastating events that are fast approaching for both Father and Bruno:
I'm afraid that the Fury will not relieve me of my command just yet. Mother, on the other hand, thinks this would be a good time for the three of you to return home and reopen the house, and when I think about it [...] when I think about it, perhaps she is right. Perhaps this is not a place for children.
This uncomfortable moment of foreshadowing fills the reader with dread. Father's statement that "perhaps this is not a place for children" hints at the tragedy that is soon to occur. Bruno’s father seems to be coming to the realization that next door to Auschwitz may not be the best place to raise his children. His concern is only for his family’s comfort and safety, as he worries being close to the camp and isolated from their former community is bad for Bruno and Gretel. However, he apparently remains totally oblivious to the fact that Auschwitz is also “unsuitable” for the children and adults whom he is actively forcing to live and die there. By not telling Bruno what he is doing to the people in the concentration camp he runs, he gives Bruno no reason to fear entering it. In this way, his moral blindness, combined with his attempt to protect his children's innocence, directly contributes to Bruno’s awful death.
Related Themes:
