Chekhov’s pistol is a literary technique where objects given special meaning in a story are used later. It’s not foreshadowing, but stripping away irrelevant information. The object doesn’t have to be a weapon, and red herrings can also be used.
Chekhov’s pistol is a literary technique in which any object that is given special meaning within a story is to be used at a later point. The technique comes from Anton Chekhov, who explained that a gun hung on a wall in the play’s first act should be used at a later point in the story. If the gun is not used, it is useless and a mere distraction, unless it is meant to be a red herring. The ideal situation for Chekhov’s pistol is one in which the object is noticed but partially forgotten at first, and then becomes relevant later in the story.
The biggest misconception about Chekhov’s gun is that it is tantamount to foreshadowing. Foreshadowing is where the writer leaves little hints about future events in the narrative, which are understood more clearly after the event is known. Chekhov’s Gun is more about stripping away extraneous information and description than it is about layering clues for the reader. If a loaded gun is described in the first act and never fired, it is not necessary to describe the gun at all, because it is irrelevant.
Another key point is that Chekhov’s pistol does not refer specifically to weapons. Instead, technique refers to any object within a story that is given a special meaning, so that the audience would expect it to perform a certain function. For example, a character may discover a key on a chain early in the story and later find that it opens the door to forgotten treasure. The weapon referred to is merely figurative, it refers to an object “charged” with meaning. The public would understandably be disappointed if the key in the example was never mentioned again or was useless.
Red herrings are plot devices that can be linked to Chekhov’s gun. In the same way as a “loaded gun”, a red herring is introduced and a certain meaning is given to the beginning of a story. This prompts the reader to assume it will matter later, but in reality it only serves as a diversion. Red herrings are somewhat the opposite of Chekhov’s gun, being something given meaning that is not directly significant. The true meaning of a red herring is that it distracts the audience from the real plot of the story, and therefore has a purpose in a sense.
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