What Gives It All Away?

It is quite common for authors to foreshadow events through the inclusion of small details that allow the reader to make assumptions and predict how the author intends to follow through with his or her novel. Nathaniel Hawthorne, being an excellent example, provided such details throughout the entirety of his novel, The Scarlet Letter. What someone might pass off as minutiae, such as the biblical allusion, an extended metaphor, or irony in Chapter 22, others may understand to be the indication of what is to happen in the forthcoming chapter(s). Certain details are very easily overlooked. Therefore, a reader may be required to read more in depth or even research a specific situation, like a government event, to better comprehend the significance.

Through careful analysis of certain indiscernible, yet underlying details, someone can portend the events in the subsequent chapter. An example from The Scarlet Letter, which is not easily singled out, is biblical allusion. In Chapter 22, Mistress Hibbins, an elderly woman who is given the role of a witch, addresses the young Pearl saying, "They say, child, thou art of the lineage of the Prince of Air!" (237). Hibbins, who is presumably irreligious, uses the devil's name as it appears in Ephesians 2:2, a book from the New Testament. This expression, coming from a presumed witch, is a little out of place, and raises the suspicion of the reader. Arguably, however, we may not draw any significance to this announcement made by Mistress Hibbins. It could be that mentioning the devil's name as it appears in the Bible is just a coincidence. On the other hand, it could be speculated that, through the power of the devil and Pearl's presence, something major might occur. This conjecture is the m...

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...l Hawthorne's rhetorical strategies are of great importance to the novel. While some strategies are used to emphasize a certain event, others are meant to foreshadow one. His rhetorical strategies help to illustrate a unification and connection between occasions, which, when standing alone, may not seem as significant to the reader. Hawthorne's foreshadowing serves as a mitigation, because the reader will know what to expect in the impending chapters; their surprise will be stifled due to the previously attained knowledge. Therefore, Hawthorne uses rhetorical devices to foreshadow and alleviate a reader's reaction.

Works Cited

Earnest, Jim, and Anita Earnest. "Bird Spirits." Animal and Bird Meanings. All Nations Trading, 2012. Web. 02 May 2014.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "The Procession." The Scarlet Letter. New York: Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, 1989. 231-42. Print.