Reunion

In literature, foreshadowing is when a writer hints at something that will appear later in the story. In “Reunion,” John Cheever employs multiple hints within his first paragraph that this reunion between father and son will not be the joyous reconnection that the word typically implies. First, when Charlie writes to his father asking to meet for lunch, “his secretary wrote to say that he would meet” (518). This small detail provides the first inkling that Charlie’s relationship with his father might not be ideal. Alone, this information may not stand as foreshadowing, but when coupled with the fact that Charlie begins his story with “the last time I saw my father” (518), it becomes clear that the reunion will not have a happy ending, for if it did, it likely would not be the final encounter between father and son. Furthermore, Charlie notes, “As soon as I saw him I felt that he was my father my flesh and blood, my future and my doom” (518). Acknowledging that he will inherit much from his father, including his “doom” lends an ominous tone to an otherwise hopeful and idealistic first paragraph.