The Kite Runner
Examples of foreshadowing in the Kite Runner
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which an author drops subtle hints about plot developments to come later in the story. An example of foreshadowing might be when a character displays a gun or knife early in the story. Merely the appearance of a deadly weapon, even though it is used for an innocuous purpose — such as being cleaned or whittling wood — suggests terrible consequences later on.
1. Foreshadowing is used as a literary device at the very beginning of the novel as Hosseini uses the first person narration through Amir, to hint at a major event to follow in the novel. This event is something that has changed Amir’s life, and life-path, forever. This foreshadowing is presented through the use of another literary device the flashback.
I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975. I remember the precise moment, crouching behind a crumbling mud wall, peeking into the alley near the frozen creek. That was a long time ago, but it’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out. Looking back now, I realise I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years.
2. Foreshadowing is also used at the beginning of Chapter Seven when Hassan tells Amir about the dream he had that night.
“it was warm and sunny, and the late was clear like a mirror. But no one was swimming because they said a monster had come to the lake. It was swimming at the bottom, waiting.”…He poured me a cup and added sugar, blew on ita few times. Put if before me. “So everyone is scared to get in the water, and suddenly you kick off your shoes, Amir agha, and take off your shirt. ‘There’s no monster,’ you say. ‘I’ll show you all.’
3. There is also foreshadowing of who Hassan actually turns out to be in Chapter Six. This is when Hassan and Amir are testing each other’s loyalty and integrity.
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which an author drops subtle hints about plot developments to come later in the story. An example of foreshadowing might be when a character displays a gun or knife early in the story. Merely the appearance of a deadly weapon, even though it is used for an innocuous purpose — such as being cleaned or whittling wood — suggests terrible consequences later on.
1. Foreshadowing is used as a literary device at the very beginning of the novel as Hosseini uses the first person narration through Amir, to hint at a major event to follow in the novel. This event is something that has changed Amir’s life, and life-path, forever. This foreshadowing is presented through the use of another literary device the flashback.
I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975. I remember the precise moment, crouching behind a crumbling mud wall, peeking into the alley near the frozen creek. That was a long time ago, but it’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out. Looking back now, I realise I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years.
2. Foreshadowing is also used at the beginning of Chapter Seven when Hassan tells Amir about the dream he had that night.
“it was warm and sunny, and the late was clear like a mirror. But no one was swimming because they said a monster had come to the lake. It was swimming at the bottom, waiting.”…He poured me a cup and added sugar, blew on ita few times. Put if before me. “So everyone is scared to get in the water, and suddenly you kick off your shoes, Amir agha, and take off your shirt. ‘There’s no monster,’ you say. ‘I’ll show you all.’
3. There is also foreshadowing of who Hassan actually turns out to be in Chapter Six. This is when Hassan and Amir are testing each other’s loyalty and integrity.