Allusions and foreshadowing, from writer to reader

I make a lot of references and allusions. Some of them are blatant, for anyone who actually knows the material being referenced (though such material is usually obscure to some degree). Others are less so. Not so much "subtle" as just "requiring homework." One thing I've noticed, though: all of these fly under the radar pretty much one hundred percent of the time. Maybe readers tend to read more to experience a story than to examine it, so to speak, and that, as writers, we may well bury our Easter eggs a little too far below the surface. But that's part of the point, isn't it: to reward those readers who take the time to dig around a bit. Right?

When you add allusions, references, and foreshadowing to your work, does anyone notice? Are you disappointed when people seem oblivious?

 

I do a lot of that, allusions especially. Readers very seldom notice, or don't say so if they do. Yes, disappointed that my cleverness isn't acknowledged.

 

I would be very unhappy if somebody missed my foreshadowing, because that's important to the story. However, as to references and allusions, I think I would prefer them buried. I know some people like to read stories that are heavy with that sort of thing, but I'm not one of them. I tend to take a story at face value as I read it. Only afterwards, when I'm thinking about it or analyzing it, do these extra layers appear for me.

As an author, I try to disappear. I don't want people to notice me at all. I want my readers to remain firmly in my story's world. I would prefer people to go away from my story and keep thinking about it, and discovering hidden connections then.

 

If no one is picking up on these things in your work, maybe you're not doing it right. I don't know. I have never seen your work. Perhaps, it is very clever. How do you know people don't pick up on these things? Who are these people to you? Is your work published? But I don't think reading any book should require me to do homework. I love a smart book, but I really don't know what you mean by "requiring homework." That just sounds like a bad idea all around.

I think sometimes writers forget that clarity is probably the number one thing for writers. That doesn't mean dumbing anything down. But our foreshadowing and whatnot shouldn't go over our readers' heads. Don't we add these things in to give readers a better sense of the fictional worlds we create and the stories we tell?

 

I'm not disappointed at all. I realize that all readers have diverse backgrounds and experiences when it comes to literature, so naturally, they will make connections based on what they've read in the past. I may not agree with their assessment/interpretation, but that's what creative writing is all about.

 

I figure there's layers.

The Narrative (what's happening)
Anything that is necessary for the reader to actually follow the events depicted in the story can't be too hidden. I think confusing a reader like this is poor writing, with a few exceptions for those who've earned it (1). I would include a lot of foreshadowing in there, because it can create mood. I critiqued a story where a woman goes for a walk with her kid and at the last minute produces a shotgun to protect the kid from a snake. I really thought the shotgun should have been introduced earlier to create an early sense of menace and danger to the story. It served dual purpose to influence mood.

The Story/Plot (what is actually happening)
Then there's the clues, for mystery. The genre has an unofficial rule that theoretically the reader should be able to solve the mystery themselves, you give them every clue, and the skill is misdirecting their attention or interpretation. I feel it's completely acceptable to have the majority of readers 'miss' these the first time around. If you did a good job, they will actually appreciate it. An example is when Poirot adjusts an urn on the mantelpiece that was off center. It's consistent with his routine character behaviors, but this one time, it was a clue about where something had been hastily hidden, we can look back after finishing the novel and realize that he had solved the mystery about ten pages in, and spent the rest of the novel getting his ducks in a row in order to build an ironclad court case.

The Writer/Reader Shared Universe (break the fourth wall)
Lastly, there is a layer that is just a gift to insiders, true fans, &c, that 99% of readers may miss, but it won't be a loss for them. Just a bonus. For example, I wrote a short story where everything one character said was technically an haiku. The only test reader who noticed was one who regularly participates in flash and beat poetry nights. That's OK by me.

(1) What. Is. David. Lynch. Doing.

 

i agree 100%. allusions and foreshadowing are great, but when they hit you between the eyes it kind of defeats the purpose. i like a story i can chew on for hours after i put my kindle down, and then i geek out when something becomes obvious. my hope is that when i write, my easter eggs and clever allusions will just sweep along with the story and make for an immersive experience that doesn't derail because i got too showy. J.K. Rowling comes to mind; my brother loves that he can reread the books over and over and constantly see something new that he didn't notice before.

 

I'm with @jannert on this. {Foreshadowing} and {References, Allusions} are two very different sets. Foreshadowing is an in-universe dynamic, made of the same materials as the story itself. Were that to be missed, then I would I think I wrote it poorly. References and Allusions are intrusions from the world outside the universe of the story. For example, an obvious allusion (and reference) is being made in Octavia Butler's books Dawn, Imago, and Adulthood Rights when she names the initial protagonist Lilith. Lilith is a name soaked in meaning and portent, and it's not at all subtle, and in the case of the books, Lilith Iyapo certainly lives up to her name. I love these books, but from the moment I saw her name, I felt like it was so "on the nose" that it was a mildly eyerollie moment for me the reader. I was like, come on, Octavia, you're way better than this.

In one of my own stories, I made reference to a FRONT242 song from the very early 90's. I even asked here in the forum if it added, detracted, or was neutral to the impact of the scene. The general answer was that it was either neutral or detracting because understanding how it fit into the scene required prior knowledge or interest in the music. One member commented knowing the song, but for the rest, it was what I call an "empty file" reference. A description that links to nothing in the real world of the reader from which to to draw example, sensation, comparison, etc.

 

These statements seem at odds with one another. If you name a character Cain and that character later turns out to be a murderer, is that a reference or is it foreshadowing?

 

To expand, my argument would be that both foreshadowing and allusions are forms of subtextual communication; that's why I lumped them together. What links them in my mind is that both can quite subtle and both may be missed without necessarily detracting from the experience of the story from the perspective of the audience.

 

Yeah, I concede. I guess these kinds of references can also be a subset of foreshadowing. Foreshadowing in my mind is a larger or broader paradigm that can be simply event driven, or invoked through simple dialogue. There's overlap, but I think of allusion and reference as a more closely aligned set.

 

I wouldn't call the one a subset of the other; rather, they are totally separate, but the one is a thing that may be used to do the other. You can use a reference as foreshadowing, but you can also use a reference as, say, a way to make fans of Queen grin.

(Also, my understanding of "allusion" and "reference" is actually just that they're synonyms in this context. Maybe I'm missing some subtle difference you intend.)

 

Yeah, I suppose you could call that 'foreshadowing,' but it would only foreshadow if people knew the story of the biblical Cain. Lots of writers do that sort of thing, which can fall flat if the reader isn't aware of the connection. You can certainly use a reference as a method of foreshadowing, but you need to be sure the reader will be familiar with the reference, or it won't work.

However, if you said something early in the story, about how Johnny's favourite story from the Bible was the one about Cain—and explain that Cain killed his brother out of jealousy, for any reader not familiar with the story— that could foreshadow a showdown between Johnny and his own brother later on. (A VERY clumsy foreshadowing example, which I would never use!)

I did foreshadow a brotherly split in my novel, though. In the opening scene, my 5-year-old protagonist asks his father if he thinks he and his twin brother are the same—meaning the same kind of person. The father says no, and points out that the two boys like different things, are good at different things, and do different things, and they would not always be together. My protagonist is upset at the thought and denies the possibility, because he loves his brother and can't imagine life without him.

Of course they do eventually split, and the split is permanent ...and to some extent the father facilitates it. So there not only is foreshadowing there, but also a bit of irony as well.

 

For me these would not necessarily be the same. For me an allusion is a subtler thing, perhaps made up of only components and not so direct as a reference. Splitting hairs, perhaps, and easily only part of my internal idiolect, but I feel a difference in the level plain-spokenness between the two.

 

I agree that using reference to convey foreshadowing is prone to failure in those cases. At the same time, so are most other kinds of foreshadowing.