As always, Dreiser's foreshadowing forges irony and narrative momentum. Roberta fears that the
aborticide is innocuous. Separate journeys to the abortionist foreshadow separate journeys to the
lakes. Whether intentional or not, there is verbal irony and foreshadowing in the doctor's reply to
Roberta's lie that her husband is a poor electrician: "At least all electricians charge enough."
Roberta's plea for abortion and the doctor's plea for preservation point to the question of capital
punishment in Book III. The pines that "sentinel" Twelfth Lake foreshadow Big Bittern. An index to the
theme of pursuit, two wolfhounds lie on the Cranston grass. The automobile ride to Big Bittern
prefigures Clyde's taking Roberta there. And in daydreaming of murder, Clyde also has a
nightmarish vision of electrocution.
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- Fall '08
- staff
- Irony, Roberta, Clyde, Sondra. Clyde
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