The Swimmer Foreshadowing Examples

The setting and season of a story is essential to the telling of a story. It gives the reader insight to what's going on and in some cases can be used as foreshadowing to the outcome of the story. We see examples of this in “The Swimmer” by John Cheever, “The Guest” by Albert Camus and “Sweat” by Zora Neale.

In the short story “the swimmer” by John Cheever setting, more specifically seaon, is used as a form of foreshadowing to tell the reader when things start to take a turn for the worst for Neddy Merrill in his alcohol abuse. In the story the narrator states “It would storm. The stand of cumulus cloud- that city-had risen and darkened and while he sat there he heard the percussiveness of the thunder again”(Chever 125) which is pretty dark in comparison to earlier settings which were sunny. This sudden shift in seasons foreshadows what happens in the end of the story when Neddy gets home and realizes that his wife and kids had left him due to his alcoholism.

In this story the narrator shows a new beginning for the main character, Delia Jone, through the setting. Examples of this can be seen in the story as early as the first sentence, where the narrator states “ It was eleven o'clock of a spring night in florida. It was Sunday.”(Hurston 378). The authors usage of the season spring foreshadows a new beginning for Jones because spring is often associated with birth and a beginning of a new cycle. Another example of foreshadowing can be found towards the end of the story right before the death of her abusive husband, Sykes. In the text it states “ the sun was growing warm” (Hurston 387) and “the grey sky was spreading.” (Hurston 386). The setting foreshadows the death of her husband and her release from their abusive