The Power of
Foreshadowing by Anna House
Foreshadowing is a literary device often used to create
suspense and leave hints for future events. This literary device leads the
reader to certain predictions and assumptions for what is to come. In Their
Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston utilizes foreshadowing
effectively. Hurston’s use of foreshadowing increases the complexity of the
novel and makes it a more intense read. Several of the strong examples of
foreshadowing are found within the first few chapters of the book, and some are
found later on, all of which help the reader understand Janie’s character and
serve as a way of enticing the reader to continue reading.
The first
great use of foreshadowing to create excitement for what is to come in the
novel comes in the first chapter. Chapter one describes Janie in her later
years, when she had the desire to marry Tea Cake. She is talking to Pheoby
after the death of Tea Cake. At this point, the reader is somewhat confused
about who Tea Cake is and what happened, as Janie mentions that he is now gone
(Hurston 7). This is foreshadowing to Janie’s relationship to come with Tea
Cake, one that doesn’t begin until chapter ten. After Janie’s past two
marriages had ended, she quickly fell in love with Tea Cake (114). Janie and
Pheoby’s chat about Tea Cake in the beginning of the novel foreshadowed the
importance Tea Cake would soon have.
Hurston
uses foreshadowing often to bring attention to subtle hints left and the
importance they will soon have. Another powerful example of foreshadowing in Their
Eyes Were Watching God is early on in the book. Janie walks by a crowd of
people on a porch, and their minds are flooded with questions. They wonder,
“Where all dat money her husband took and died and left her”? (2). The group of
people is curious about what happened to Janie and where her husband and money
went. This foreshadows the wealth and husband Janie will have later on in the
book, because people are wondering what happened. This example of foreshadowing
gives the reader hints about who Janie is and what she has experienced before
reading about her life.
A third
excellent example of foreshadowing comes later in the story. Tea Cake was
having health issues, Janie blurts out that life will merely go on if Tea Cake
dies. “Folks wuz makin’ weeks befo’ you wuz born and they gointuh be makin’ ‘em
after you’se gone” (174). This comment makes Tea Cake try to prove that he is
healthy because he doesn’t want Janie to call the doctor. The conversation
between Janie and Tea Cake foreshadows the coming death of Tea Cake. After the
two’s relationship starts to have more problems, partially because of Tea
Cake’s deteriorating health, Janie has to kill him to save her own life (184).
The way Janie mentions Tea Cake being gone foreshadows his death to come. This
powerful example of foreshadowing intensifies the novel.
A fourth
example of foreshadowing involves the pear tree. In the start of the book,
Janie is mentioned to be sitting under a pear tree, examining its blossoms,
leaves, and buds. She exclaims after seeing the connection all of the different
parts of the tree had, “So this is a marriage”! (11). This statement by Janie
connects with another that she makes later on in the story. In chapter 11,
Janie says Tea Cake is “a bee to a blossom” (106), the relation of this two
quotes demonstrates that the first statement was foreshadowing to a happy
marriage Janie would soon have.
One last
example of foreshadowing in Their Eyes Were Watching God is found in
chapter six. After Joe hits Janie for incorrectly cooking bread and fish, she
realizes she doesn’t love him anymore, “…her image of Jody tumbled down and
shattered” (72). Shortly after being hit, she also states that “She was saving
up feelings for some man she had never seen” (72). This quote foreshadows Janie
and Joe’s eventual ending of their relationship, and Janie finding a new man.
This example of foreshadowing is important because it leaves a clue that Janie
wants to find another man, an event that is soon to come.
Zora Neale
Hurston used foreshadowing logically to demonstrate how simple statements by
characters earlier in the book can become crucial to events that occur later
on.The several strong examples of foreshadowing in Their Eyes Were Watching
God illustrate the power subtle hints may have. In this novel,
foreshadowing is used in several ways to provoke interest in the reader and
heighten Janie’s character as well as her actions.
