Roald Dahl’s Tales of the Unexpected were published in 1979. We read two of these short stories as part of our Nefarious November unit. We asked each other thoughtful questions and created PACE(Paraphrase, Answer, Cite Evidence, Explain) Responses. Below is my PACE response to one of the story, “The Landlady”, about foreshadowing.
Dahl uses the device of foreshadowing in the story “The Landlady” to tease and give clues of what’s about to happen to his readers. One example from the narrative, “There were no shops on this wide street 40 that he was walking along, only a line of tall houses on each side, all them identical.” This piece of narrative hints to the reader that something is not right by talking about strange identical houses, and the fact that there were no shops along the street. Another part suggests to the readers that somehow, something suspicious is going on because she clearly knew Billy was there since, as soon as he rang the bell, “the door swung open and” she “was standing there.” In a different part, the author uses the phrase “terribly nice” to describe the landlady. This is hinting the reader that something out of the ordinary is happening. To conclude, the device of foreshadowing is used to create anticipation thus intensifying dramatic effect.