Analysis Of Harper Lee’s Use Of Foreshadowing In To Kill A Mockingbird

Foreshadowing can play a big part in the context to come in the novel that the reader has not yet gotten to. Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird, uses these techniques to further induce the reader throughout the novel. She uses foreshadowing to give readers insight into what will happen or into a character’s true nature. From how Bob Ewell plays a part in the novel, the outcome of the trial, and the mystery and the true nature behind Boo Radley. At the beginning of the book Scout starts it off by saying “I maintain that the Ewells started it all, but Jem, … said it started long before that. ” This quote ponders throughout the whole novel on the events that lead up to Jem breaking his arm and how Bob Ewell plays a part in that. At the end of the novel, Bob Ewell attacks the kids and breaks Jem’s arm. Making this quote being the foreshadowing of that incident. In Chapter 29, Scout says “Somehow, I could think of nothing but Mr. Bob Ewell saying he’d get Atticus it it took him the rest of his life. ” This quote foreshadows the end of the novel for the reader since, after the attack Bob carries out, he dies in the process. Conveying to the reader the true mentality of Bob Ewell.

Finally the quote from Chapter 17: “The cabin’s plank walls were supplemented with sheets of corrugated iron, its roof shingled with tin cans hammered flat … ”. This foreshadows how poor the Ewells are and, which proves that they have nothing to lose since they live off of relief checks. Later in the chapter, it talks about how Bob is always drunk and his kids are just running around. This also might foreshadow the attack that happened to Mayella. Bob was drunk and beat her without a second thought. The outcome of the trial was a big let down for many readers in what the verdict was, along with the outcome of what happens to Tom Robinson, which was foreshadowed throughout the novel by Lee. Reverend Sykes is quoted saying “. . . I ain’t ever seen any jury decide in favor of a colored man over a white man” which will foreshadow the outcome of the trial. Since a jury has never decided in favor of a colored man before, it does not look good in Tom’s favor and the Ewell’s will be home free. A description of the jury in a quote of “Sun burned, lanky, they all seemed to be farmers” may foreshadow how the jury is going to rule. They are all farmers who probably deal with a lot of negros stealing from them and are all white men who are from Maycomb, thus making the outcome an obvious one for the time the novel took place. Finally, before the trial starts, when a lynch comes for Tom a member of the lynch says, “You know we want him … get aside from the door, Mr. Finch” foreshadows what is going to be the outcome of Tom Robinson’s life. After the trial he was shot dead in prison, but the explanation was at the most just a cover up for what really happened to him. This being a slight clue on what will happen with Tom either if he wins or loses the trial. Boo Radley was the one who killed Bob Ewell and saves Jem and Scout. The quote “He was going around the corner. He was carrying Jem” foreshadows the true character Boo was and how nice of a person he was, besides all the bad rumors that were spread about him. It also is a little hint into who saved the kids during the attack. During the fire of Miss Maudie’s house Boo was the one who covered Scout up to keep her warm. The quote “I looked down and found myself clutching a brown woolen blanket I was wearing around my shoulders, squaw-fashion. ” foreshadows Boo’s real nature and how he cared for others, not going around eating cats and looking into other's windows.

Finally when Jem lost his pants on the fence, Boo was the one who folded them because he knew it was no negro but the kids who wanted to know more about him. The quote “When I went back, they were folded across the fence … like they were expectin’ me” may foreshadow that Boo knew the kids and what they were doing. Showing how he cared about them and wasn’t a threat to anybody. Little hints in a novel can play a huge part in how readers interpret it. Foreshadowing leads readers further on into a novel because of the cliffhangers and tense it brings with it. Lee was a perfect example of an author who used this to her advantage. Making the novel a good read for many people.