The House Of Dies Drier: Foreshadowing Analysis

Virginia Hamilton’s The House of Dies Drier is set in the 1950’s and placed in an aged house that was once an Underground Railroad station. A boy named Thomas has just moved into this strange house and is getting accustomed to the environment. Throughout the book Hamilton uses a literary element called foreshadowing. The House of Dies Drier uses foreshadowing to help one have a better understanding of the book, to cause one to think of how the story will unfold, and to add suspense.
Foreshadowing is used to add suspense in the story and compel one to ask questions about it. Suspense is the state of being excited or having anxiety about what might happen in the future. In The House of Dies Drier, Thomas and his father find a strange object. Mr. Small, Thomas’ father, says, “If it was a warning, it surely says nothing to me at the moment.” (p.115) In this example anything could happen, which brings questions into one’s mind, for instance:

“Billy turned to see and caught his ghostly reflection in a mirror by the table at the same moment as did Thomas. Billy screamed and cried. Thomas was so startled, he nearly dropped.” (p.37) At first this doesn’t appear to say anything, but then one is left to wonder why Virginia made the mirror have so much commotion attached. Later this point is emphasized again when Mrs. Small beholds the mirror. “Now they saw a grand, gilded mirror, on either side of which were two familiar end tables. ‘Why that looks beautiful!’ said Mrs. Small. ‘Those are my tables, but whose mirror is it?’ ‘That mirror was there the first time I saw the place,’ Mr. Small said.” (p.38) The mirror is singled out especially here and praised too. The fact that it was a part of the house before they bought it indicates that it also holds a secret of the house. This is an example of how you can begin to understand the story more fully with