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Rabindranath TagoreA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Tagore employs the device of foreshadowing in “The Cabuliwallah” through a shared joke between Mini and Rahmun. Rahmun asks Mini, "when are you going to the father-in-law's?” (7). As explained in the story, going to one’s “father-in-law’s” has a double meaning for the Cabuliwallah, who uses the term as a euphemism for jail. This seemingly innocuous exchange between Rahmun and Mini foreshadows a significant event in the story's climax and resolution.
First, Rahmun goes to prison over the incident of stabbing a man. Several years later, after Rahmun's imprisonment ends, he visits Mini just as she is about to depart for her father-in-law’s house, per the local tradition. This turn of events mirrors the playful banter from earlier in the story and Mini's leaving for her father-in-law's house becomes a pivotal aspect of the story's resolution.
Tagore's use of foreshadowing in this instance connects the beginning and end of the story, which also creates a sense of narrative symmetry. It underscores the theme of The Passage of Time, as the playful promise made by Rahmun in the past comes to fruition in the present.
By Rabindranath Tagore