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To be completely honest I was a little disappointed with how heavy the foreshadowing was that Dimmesdale is Pearl’s father. To be completely fair, I was keeping an eye out for it since we had mentioned heavy foreshadowing during class on Tuesday, however I wasn’t expecting to figure it out about three pages into the next section. From the moment the narrator discussed Chillingworth’s determination to figure out Dimmesdale’s secret, I had a feeling that he was the father. In terms of the plot, the biggest (and only) secret to uncover was the mystery of the father. Furthermore, calling Chillingworth the leech as he leeches the life out of Dimmesdale wasn’t particularly subtle either.
I think it’s really interesting that the foreshadowing is so heavy handed given Hawthorne’s dedication to symbols and creating a literary novel. Thinking about it though, I’m not entirely sure most of his symbols are particularly subtle either.
5 thoughts on “Foreshadow and Dimmesdale”
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Hawthorne certainly does foreshadow a lot about Dimmesdale, however I feel that in many ways it was intentional and strategic. Foreshadowing can also be used to develop characters, and in this case, by hinting at the future (or really the truth of the past), Hawthorne provides more complex insight into the motivations and inner struggles all of these characters have. I also think that by foreshadowing certain events, Hawthorne creates a sense of inevitability to go along with Dimmesdale’s eventual guilt, suggesting that certain outcomes are predestined or unavoidable.Throughout the novel, Dimmesdale struggles with the guilt and shame of the, and his character arc and eventual confession is much more interesting once it has been potentially expected by readers.
I was also reading this for the first time, and found it shocking how quickly all seemed to be revealed. I agree that at first it was a bit disappointing, especially after reading so much of Poe’s writing, where it is usually the last sentence of the story that reveals the solution to the mystery (except for in “The Purloined Letter”). But I think Hawthorne left enough holes in the actual ending to keep up the excitement. There are still so many things I wish were revealed in this story that I can accept the main question being answered early on.