I was talking to a friend the other day about foreshadowing and had a question about the movie 'Kung Fu Panda'. In the movie, the Praying Mantis is trying to do acupuncture on Po, but can't hit any proper nerves because Po is so large. Later on in the movie, this is crucial because the bad guy tries to do a special move by hitting Po's nerves but all it does is tickle him. Is the acupuncture scene a foreshadow? Without that scene, we wouldn't understand why the move doesn't work later. ~ J. J.
Well, I suppose. I'm not sure though. In film terms it's a setup, and then there's the payoff. Personally I think foreshadowing may be a bit more about a story line or a major event rather than a smaller detail.
I think that's a setup-payoff too, not really foreshadowing. Another setup-payoff example is in The Avengers. Steve Rogers tells Nick Fury that there's nothing in the modern world that could surprise him, and Fury says "Ten bucks says you're wrong." When Rogers (Captain America) is on the flying SHIELD helicarrier after having fought the god Loki, he gives ten dollars to Fury, essentially saying "Yeah, there's still stuff that surprises me." I think of foreshadowing as when a character makes an observation that turns out to mean more than it does on the surface - it's like dramatic irony. For example, if everything seems to be fine, but a character looks up and says "Looks like a storm is coming tonight", and in short order the whole world seems to fall apart (the king is murdered, or the enemy invades, or an asteroid on collision course with Earth is discovered, or whatever), that's foreshadowing. I think foreshadowing is when a character says something that indicates to the reader that the shit is about to hit the fan. A casual remark presages a major plot point, in other words.
I see foreshadowing as giving away whats going to happen without really telling HOW it's going to happen. Personally, your example is too small of a detail to really be considered a foreshadowing event. Hope this made sense since I honestly can't think of any examples right at this very second
Foreshadowing doesn't have to give anything away. It's merely an advanced echo of things to come. A series of bullying incidents at a school can foreshadow a serious but unrelated hate crime, reinforcing a theme of the consequences of hate. On the other hand, a character absently flicking the cap of an old fluid-type lighter may foreshadow an act of arson for which he IS responsible. So foreshadowing can be a way of subtly introducing clues (OR red herrings), or it can be a means of delivering metaphors or analogies.
