Examples Of Foreshadowing In The Scarlet Letter

Way back in the 17th century the Puritan religion was the leading religion in The New World. Their religious beliefs were strict especially in Salem, Massachusetts. They had extreme punishments for for laws even in the case of a minor offense. The punishments were based of the laws created by their religious beliefs. Hawthorne uses several examples of foreshadowing in “The Scarlet Letter” that reflects the strict beliefs of their society. First, Dimmesdale’s sin getting revealed was foreshadowed and it sounded as if it had to be revealed in a certain way. While Dimmesdale was with Hester and Pearl on the scaffold, Pearl asked if he would stand with them the next day. To this he said, “Nay, not so, my little Pearl, not so my child. I shall, indeed, stand with thy mother and thee one other day, but not to-morrow” (Hawthorne 99). If Dimmesdale was not worried about what the public would think once he revealed his sin, then he would have just stood their the next day and revealed it then.

During Dimmesdale’s vigil on the scaffold there was a bright light from an asteroid that lit up the sky. Hawthorne said that they looked “upward to the zenith, beheld there the appearance of an immense letter—the letter A—marked out in lines of dull red light”(Hawthorne 100). Dimmesdale was with Hester who committed adultery, so it can be assumed that it wasn’t about her. Pearl was the result of Hester’s adultery, and she is just a child, so only Dimmesdale is left. It must have been for Dimmesdale because it is confirmed that he has sinned, but it is never stated what that sin is, but here it can be assume to be