A cold and bitter feeling is in the atmosphere on this night. Darkness consumed the small, but promising colony of Massachusetts. A type of night where only those who lurk in the shadows resurface to meet with the black man. Or maybe even a person who has something sinful bearing on their mind, is lurking around as well. This exact depiction of night is the setting for chapter 12, The Ministers Vigil; and the man responsible for the creation of The Scarlet Letter is, “the most significant fiction writer of the antebellum period”(Baym603), Nathaniel Hawthorne. In this chapter Hawthorne is able to use imagery and symbolism in both the scaffold scene and the meteor sighting. By using these two themes Hawthorne is able to foreshadow future events
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As a matter of fact Hawthorne uses themes all throughout The Scarlet Letter. However, Hawthorne does not manipulate imagery and symbolism to foreshadow future events to come in every chapter of the Scarlet Letter. And it happens to be in chapter 12, The Ministers Vigil, Hawthorne manipulates imagery and symbolisms to foreshadow future events. Hawthorne explains to the reader that when Hester Prynne and Pearl join Dimmsedale on the scaffold he felt, “ what seemed a tumultuous rush of new life, other life than his own, pouring like a torrent into his heart, and hurrying through all his veins, as if the mother and the child were communicating their vital warmth to his half-torpid system. The three formed an electric chain.”(Hawthorne 139). From this passage the exact image of what Dimmesdale is feeling and what is happening is visible to the reader. Which in a way contrasts the past scaffold scene. In this case, the scaffold scene is a symbol of achievement, love, and compassion; as apposed to the first scaffold scene which symbolized ridicule, punishment, and abashment towards the characters present on the scaffold. In addition to the use of imagery and symbolism by Hawthorne to describe the scene, a question submerges. Does Hawthorne use imagery and symbolism to foreshadow a future scaffold scene, and if so is there more evidence that can further prove
As a matter of fact Hawthorne uses themes all throughout The Scarlet Letter. However, Hawthorne does not manipulate imagery and symbolism to foreshadow future events to come in every chapter of the Scarlet Letter. And it happens to be in chapter 12, The Ministers Vigil, Hawthorne manipulates imagery and symbolisms to foreshadow future events. Hawthorne explains to the reader that when Hester Prynne and Pearl join Dimmsedale on the scaffold he felt, “ what seemed a tumultuous rush of new life, other life than his own, pouring like a torrent into his heart, and hurrying through all his veins, as if the mother and the child were communicating their vital warmth to his half-torpid system. The three formed an electric chain.”(Hawthorne 139). From this passage the exact image of what Dimmesdale is feeling and what is happening is visible to the reader. Which in a way contrasts the past scaffold scene. In this case, the scaffold scene is a symbol of achievement, love, and compassion; as apposed to the first scaffold scene which symbolized ridicule, punishment, and abashment towards the characters present on the scaffold. In addition to the use of imagery and symbolism by Hawthorne to describe the scene, a question submerges. Does Hawthorne use imagery and symbolism to foreshadow a future scaffold scene, and if so is there more evidence that can further prove