History Foreshadowing / Literature

** [[https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/111/1119727/1984/9781784876555.html This edition]] of the book features a rat on the cover. Rats are Winston's worst fear, and threatening to unleash half-starved rats on him to eat him alive is what makes Winston do what he thinks the party can never make him do: stop him from loving Julia. He wants the rats to eat her alive instead and he means it, and then he can never see her the same way again.

** Ned Land, GreatWhiteHunter, is ashamed when Ubermensch Captain Nemo [[KickTheDog Kicks The Cachalots]] in a terrible massacre. At the end of the novel, Nemo will KickTheDog again…

** When Agatha trips on the stairs leading to Castle Heteorodyne, and Zola picks her up, the narration notes that despite her (''very pink'') outward appearance, she does so with surprising strength.

* ''Literature/AStudyInEmerald'': The story is chock-full of clues to the big twist, namely that [[spoiler: the Narrator and the Detective are ''not'' Mr. Sherlock Holmes and Doctor James Watson, but rather Professor James Moriarty and Colonel Sebastian Moran.]]

*** Related to the above, the narrator was left with a phobia of caves that meant he "... would gladly pay sixpence of [his] Army pension for a Hansom cab, rather than a penny to travel underground." [[spoiler: Watson, who was a practicing doctor, would have gotten a pension from the Army too, but would have made enough money as a physician in civilian practice to make cab fare a non-issue. Moran, who was an officer, sniper and hunter by trade, would have had no other income without his gun skills, and shelling out for a cab regularly might well become a financial problem for him.]]

* ''Literature/TheBible'':
** Literature/BookOfGenesis 3:15 'he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.' If you're Christian, this is foreshadowing to Jesus punishing Satan (the snake) ... a few thousand years before he was born.
** As well as Isaiah, Jeremiah, and every other prophetic book. This is to be expected, considering the nature of what a prophecy is.
** In addition, many Old Testament events are similar to events in the New Testament.
** Keep in mind, though, that the Bible was written by many, ''many'' people over ''centuries'', most of whom were not in contact with, or even living at the same time as, each other, so from a purely literary perspective it cannot be foreshadowing. Of course, if you believe everything in the Bible really happened, that's another story (and there's something to be said for the possibility of things getting LostInTranslation)...

* Among the various examples in ''Literature/{{Cerberon}}'' is this gem: When George and Cerberon are discussing what to do with the bodies of two highwaymen they had just killed, Cerberon asks, "Shouldn't we bury them?" to which George replies, "No. Leave them for the carrion birds. Maybe they can carry their wretched souls up to Heaven." Later on, they meet a family of skraad, [[NobleBirdOfPrey human-sized intelligent avian carrion birds]] [[{{Psychopomp}} who can lead lost spirits on to their afterlife]]. In an interesting CallBack to George's foreshadowing statement, one of the skraad tells another character, "There is nothing in the sky for the soul. It returns to the Source and the body nourishes more life."

* In ''Literature/FoucaultsPendulum'', the narrator and his skeptical girlfriend discuss how the four Gospels might have started out as a literary exercise that accidentally turned into the holy texts of a new cult. Before the story is over, the protagonists have unwittingly started exactly such a cult themselves.

* Early on in ''Literature/TheGiver'', we learn that Jonas' younger sister Lily has a stuffed toy elephant as her "comfort object", and that she believes that [[EskimosArentReal elephants are imaginary creatures that never existed]] (when he was little, Jonas had a bear, which was also supposedly imaginary). Much later in the book, Jonas receives a memory of an elephant being killed for its ivory by poachers. This is a major step in Jonas learning about the lost memory of sorrow, and it makes him realize just how much of the old world people have left behind.

** The presence of broken glass is repeatedly mentioned. Ass it turns out, the [=MoFos=] keep smashing into glass because [[spoiler:they're under the delusion that they’re screens]].

** In "The Lay of the Land", Mary jokes that Thomas is "doomed" and should "just accept [his] fate now". Becomes a FunnyAneurysmMoment when we find out that [[spoiler:Mary brokered the deal between Thomas and the Crossroads]].

* In the first book of ''Literature/{{Kane}}'' series, ''Darkness Weaves'', [[TheProtagonist Kane]] mentions offhandedly that later copies and transcriptions of Alorri-Zrokros's ''Book of the Elders'' can be deadly because of errors and omissions. Which comes to bite him in the next book, ''Bloodstone''.

** Also done without words in the first book. Tobias is the one who has the deepest connection with Elfangor, who stays with him the longest. He does not know why, but we find out why in The Andalite Chronicles, with the parental reveal.
** ''The Ellimist Chronicles'' begins and ends with the Ellimist visiting a dying Animorph. He admits that he did not cause him/her to be an Animorph, and that it was random chance. According to ''Megamorphs 4'', this means that this can only be Jake or Rachel. It turns out to be Rachel.

** Earlier than that, the Bahrag queens in the 2002 book ''Beware the Bohrok'' compare their minions, the titular Bohrok to the Toa heroes, calling them their brothers. Some years later, it's revealed that the Bohrok and the Barhag weren't evil at all, they had only been serving the will of PhysicalGod Mata Nui, the same as the Toa. Later still, we learn that the Bohrok [[WasOnceAMan were once Matoran]], the same "species" that the Toa belong to.

* In ''Literature/{{Shiver}}'', while Grace is buying a new car [[spoiler:Sam jokes to Grace that if the car "hit a deer it would just hiccup and keep going". Much later the car does in fact hit a deer and breaks down. To make matters worse, without the car heater keeping Sam warm, he finally shifts permanently into a wolf but not before tearfully saying goodbye to Grace and Beck]].

** In ''Literature/AHatFullSky'', Tiffany thinks "When I am old, ''Literature/IShallWearMidnight''".

* ''Literature/MidnightsChildren'' takes this UpToEleven, possibly even to the point of parody. The FramingDevice is a narrator writing his autobiography, but he acts like a literature student performing a deep reading of a work, and excitedly references future events whenever he notices something significant. May even overlap with DoomedByCanon, as the narrator will sometimes spoil future events outright (particularly the deaths of certain characters).

** The presence of broken glass is repeatedly mentioned. Ass it turns out, the MoFos keep smashing into glass because [[spoiler:they're under the delusion that they’re screens]].

* ''Literature/HollowKingdom2019'': In the fourth chapter, Genghis Cat mentions that he caught a Humboldt penguin. This is some time before it's confirmed that the Woodland Park Zoo animals breached containment.

** Literature/{{Genesis}} 3:15 'he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.' If you're Christian, this is foreshadowing to Jesus punishing Satan (the snake) ... a few thousand years before he was born.

* ''Literature/LaxdaelaSaga'': In Kjartan's swimming contest with King Olaf, Olaf pushes Kjartan under water three times. This is a foreshadowing of Olaf bringing about Kjartan's conversion: In medieval baptism ceremonies, adults were submerged in water three times.

** There are several hints about Blackmail [[spoiler: being Sir Pryce]] and Sam [[spoiler: being Mizzamir's son]]. Blackmail is from Kwartz, [[spoiler: Sir Pryce's country]], and defeated when a paladin whom he's fighting prays [[spoiler: to Sir Pryce]] for aid. Robin, while looking at a painting depicting the youthful Mizzamir, finds his features then look oddly familiar. [[spoiler: Because he resembles Sam. Plus the fact that a magical ward reacts to him and he can get a magic mirror to work, which shows he has latent ability inherited from Mizzamir.]] Also, Blackmail lingers over a mural showing Sir Pryce arguing with Mizzamir. [[spoiler: Similar conflict led to him breaking with the Light.]]

* In ''Literature/FoucauldsPendulum'', the narrator and his skeptical girlfriend discuss how the four Gospels might have started out as a literary exercise that accidentally turned into the holy texts of a new cult. Before the story is over, the protagonists have unwittingly started exactly such a cult themselves.

* In ''{{Literature/FoucauldsPendulum}}'', the narrator and his skeptical girlfriend discuss how the four Gospels might have started out as a literary exercise that accidentally turned into the holy texts of a new cult. Before the story is over, the protagonists have unwittingly started exactly such a cult themselves.

* Two notable examples occur in Creator/JohnSteinbeck's ''Literature/OfMiceAndMen''. In the very first scene, George complains about how GentleGiant Lennie always accidentally kills his pet mice. About halfway through the book, Carlson [[ShootTheDog shoots Candy's dog]]. Both of these nicely build up the drama of the last chapter.
** The whole book is ''dripping'' with foreshadowing if you know where to look.