The Epic of Gilgamesh portrays the life events of a young ruler named Gilgamesh. Throughout the story there are various points of foreshadowing that help the reader to predict what will happen later on within the story. It is interesting to note the way the story uses foreshadowing, it is bluntly shown in several portions. In general, literary works use foreshadowing as a subtle tool to peak the reader’s interest, this is not the case within the Epic of Gilgamesh. While there are several occasions within the Epic of Gilgamesh where foreshadowing takes on a subtle tone, overall, the piece uses obvious foreshadowing. The first foreshadowing event occurs when Gilgamesh experiences a series of dreams. The first dream involves Gilgamesh having
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A crowd gathers around the axe, where Gilgamesh then carries it off, falls in love with it, presents it to his mother and she makes it his partner. Ninsun then explains that “My son, the axe you saw is a man” (pg 44 line 283). Gilgamesh is very intrigued by the concept of having a companion when he states “I want a friend for my own counselor, For my own Counselor do I want a friend” (pg 44 lines 293-294). The dreams help the reader to foreshadow that Enkidu will become Gilgamesh’s companion, and at one point in time will likely save Gilgamesh from a catastrophe or predicament. The friendship that will eventually be formed between Gilgamesh and Enkidu is possibly one of the largest events within the literary work. If Gilgamesh and Enkidu never became friends, there would be no plot. The foreshadowing helps to predict the two will have great adventures together, and experience something life altering. The directness of the foreshadowing effects the reader by presenting a clear line of what the relationship is going to be between Gilgamesh and Enkidu. The reader infers that the dreams are relating to Enkidu and now has the ability to see that Gilgamesh and Enkidu will have an unbreakable bond, Enkidu will at some point save Gilgamesh and will guard him. Essentially, the dreams set up the whole plot of the story. Overall, The Epic of Gilgamesh is a blunt piece. The authors
A crowd gathers around the axe, where Gilgamesh then carries it off, falls in love with it, presents it to his mother and she makes it his partner. Ninsun then explains that “My son, the axe you saw is a man” (pg 44 line 283). Gilgamesh is very intrigued by the concept of having a companion when he states “I want a friend for my own counselor, For my own Counselor do I want a friend” (pg 44 lines 293-294). The dreams help the reader to foreshadow that Enkidu will become Gilgamesh’s companion, and at one point in time will likely save Gilgamesh from a catastrophe or predicament. The friendship that will eventually be formed between Gilgamesh and Enkidu is possibly one of the largest events within the literary work. If Gilgamesh and Enkidu never became friends, there would be no plot. The foreshadowing helps to predict the two will have great adventures together, and experience something life altering. The directness of the foreshadowing effects the reader by presenting a clear line of what the relationship is going to be between Gilgamesh and Enkidu. The reader infers that the dreams are relating to Enkidu and now has the ability to see that Gilgamesh and Enkidu will have an unbreakable bond, Enkidu will at some point save Gilgamesh and will guard him. Essentially, the dreams set up the whole plot of the story. Overall, The Epic of Gilgamesh is a blunt piece. The authors