Foreshadowing - in which a certain image or event may hint at something that becomes more significant later on in the story. Authors often use different literary devices to grab the reader's attention, or to establish basis for plot development later on in the novel. In Herman Melville's Billy Budd, Melville uses the literary device of foreshadowing to allow the audience to be aware of Billy's inevitable fate before the characters in the novel, thus …showed first 75 words of 459 total…

…showed last 75 words of 459 total…Billy, and his commitment to principle is what prompts him to be severe (60). Without the element of foreshadowing within Billy Budd it seems almost incoherent that the events of the novel would have come together. Melville's use of foreshadowing allows him to take the audience on an unforgettable journey through the life and troubles of Billy Budd and allows the audience to get a full understanding of the situations leading up to Billy's tragic end.