Foreshadowing In The Landlady

Ever see that scary movie? The one in which you want to close your eyes but you can’t. Then all of a sudden, Bam! The music is going low to high, leaving you on the edge of your seat. This is the thrill of foreshadowing, keeping you in a trance. The character development, keeping you filled in and dialogue for interest. This is well done is Roald Dahl’s "The Landlady" and Prosper Merimee's “Mateo Falcone”. In “The Landlady”, Billy gets entranced into the creepy landlady’s Bed and Breakfast. In the end, Billy ends up stuffed in the hands of a taxidermist. In “Mateo Falcone”, Fortunato messes up “The Code”, and gives up a fugitive. Much to his mother's dismay, Fortunato finds himself killed, as his dad finds out he trashed the family's reputation. Both stories may have different plots and characters, but both are very well done and interesting. Roald Dahl and Prosper Merimee create two great suspenseful …show more content…
Foreshadowing is when the author includes hints or clues in the story to help lead or mislead the reader. In the story "The Landlady", Dahl uses foreshadowing to show the landlady is crazy. This is presented when Billy rings the doorbell and Dahl describes the situation.”He pressed the bell-ad out she popped”(Dahl 2). This is a creepy thing to do when someone rings your doorbell. Also, Billy sees that everything is ready for him as The Landlady says “It's all ready for you my dear”(Dahl 3). This is a great example of foreshadowing because Billy hadn’t called in before to tell The Landlady he had been coming. This shows she had no human way of knowing he was going to be there. Also, The Landlady is saying all these lines to help the reader see that Billy is falling into a trap, as that line was one of the more obvious lines. Foreshadowing is a great strategy used by authors to create suspense, but along with character development, the story is enjoyable and readers can stay