The Lamp at Noon

What are two examples of foreshadowing found within the story (cite the page numbers)? Explain what they foretell.

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One example can be found at the beginning of the story when Ellen worries that the dust that creeps into her house will compromise her baby's health; this moment foreshadows the child's death when she takes him into the dust storm.

The baby started to cry. He was lying in a homemade crib over which she had arranged a tent of muslin. Careful not to disturb the folds of it, she knelt and tried to still him, whispering huskily in a singsong voice that he must hush and go to sleep again. She would have liked to rock him, to feel the comfort of his little body in her arms, but a fear had obsessed her that in the dust-filled air he might contract pneumonia.

Ellen later accuses her husband of blindness, the inability to see how degraded the land is—something his delusion prevents him from acknowledging. However, Ellen's words will later resonate with Paul when he strokes his emaciated gelding and realizes she is right, he isn't able to even feed his animals.

“Are you blind? Thistles and tumbleweeds—it's a desert. You won't have a straw this fall. You won't be able to feed a cow or a chicken. Please, Paul, say we'll go away.”

Source(s)

The Lamp at Noon