Foreshadowing And Suspense In Nadine Gordimer's Short Stories

440 Words2 Pages
Despite the title’s allusion to fairy tales and their expected conclusions of “happily ever after,” we should not be surprised by this story’s ending. The foreshadowing and suspense play a major role in the ending of this story. The reader definitely should not be surprised by the outcome as the story builds upon the possibility of a terrible ending. A careful reader should not be surprised by the ending because of the context clues,foreshadowing and the overall tone of the story. A major example that supports the idea of a bad ending is the context clues. In the beginning of the story it states clearly that Nadine Gordimer does not normally write children stories. He states “A certain novelist said every writer ought to write at least one…show more content…
Foreshadowing sets the reader up for a strong sense of what outcome might be. It gives the tools or information to make an educated guess on what the next page will offer. An example of this foreshadowing, can be seen when the “pet cat effortlessly [arrived] over the seven-foot wall” proving that a human could not have as much agile and ease climbing up this wall (1158). The pet cat makes ease, foreshadowing at the end that a mere human could not do so, yet alone a child. The overall tone of the story also adds to the prediction of the ending. The setting of the story takes place in a very endangered area which required protection. Giving the reader an idea of a bad or frightening ending. Scary fantasies are driven from the reader's mind thriving on what the ending might be. The thought of the house being robbed and a murdering of the indiuvals probably is one of the ideas that the reader will think of. The bold letters “YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED” makes its way multiple places in the story giving of the idea that the robber are a big threat to the the family and that they need to be scaried off with the lastest ideas from keep them from breaking and
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