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Dialect
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 21
Explanation and Analysis—The Jury's Decision:
In the following passage from Chapter 21, Scout describes the atmosphere in the courtroom using imagery to compare it to a "cold February morning."
It was not unlike one I had last winter, and I shivered, though the night was hot. The feeling grew until the atmosphere in the courtroom was exactly the same as a cold February morning, when the mockingbirds were still, and the carpenters had stopped hammering on Miss Maudie’s new house, and every wood door in the neighborhood was shut as tight as the doors of the Radley Place. A deserted, waiting, empty street, and the courtroom was packed with people.
Scout conjures up the expectant air in the courtroom through her description of a cold morning: everything is still, either sleeping or waiting for the dawn to break. Similarly, those in attendance wait in anticipation of a decision, on the edge of something like one of those cold winter mornings.
The imagery in this scene also foreshadows the jury's decision to convict Tom Robinson, creating an expectant air of dread. Lee doubles down on this imagery, deliberately choosing a "cold" morning as the example in this passage. The effect that the court decision has on the spectators, the imagery implies, will be a chilling one.
Related Themes:
