Foreshadowing In The Landlady

It is clear that the author, Roald Dahl, utilizes a variety of literary devices in order to create an element of suspense in the text, “The Landlady.” An example of this would be Dahl’s use of foreshadowing in the text. The Landlady states in the text, “But my dear boy, he never left. He’s still here. Mr. Temple is also here. They’re on the fourth floor, both of them together” (Dahl 5). It is evident how this would contribute to the component of suspense for the reader. The use of foreshadowing throughout “The Landlady” is meant to hint towards Billy’s impending doom, and thus would compel readers to anticipate Billy’s fate, creating suspense. Foreshadowing contributes a great deal to the dark humor/mysterious aspect of Dahl’s style of writing.

In addition, Billy states in the text, “I’m a lucky fellow, he thought, rubbing his hands. This is a bit of all right” (Dahl 4). As the reader continues navigating through the story, it is obvious that Billy is infact, not a lucky fellow at all in any means. This is an instance of dramatic irony. The reasoning as to why irony forges suspense in the story is simple. Irony in the context of “The Landlady” allows the reader to imagine certain directions as to where the plot is heading towards, as well as to create suspense as the irony becomes more and more clear throughout the text. Dahl’s aspect of dark humor in his style can also be attributed to his use of irony as well. Thus, in conclusion, there is no doubt that Dahl fantastically utilized a variety of literary devices in order to fabricate the aspect of suspense in “The Landlady.”