The use of symbolism to foreshadow the future in The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin and The Lesson by Toni Cade BambaraThe authors use often signs to foreshadow events that will occur in the future in their stories. For example, an author might write "As he walked the dark and strange path, dark skies began to form." Here the writer uses a generally negative sign to foreshadow a negative future. This is the most common way authors foreshadow a story, but it is not the only way. In some cases, authors use symbols to foreshadow a character's future. Much like foreshadowing with signs, symbols can also be used to foreshadow both a positive and negative future. In the two short stories “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin and “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, the authors use symbols to foreshadow both a positive and negative future. In “The Story of an Hour,” Chopin uses positive symbols to foreshadow a woman’s future without her husband who was killed in a railroad accident. In “The Lesson,” Bambara uses a toy sailboat to foreshadow both the positive and negative future of a little girl named Sylvia. Chopin's story begins with a woman who has locked herself in her room and stares endlessly out the window after hearing about her husband. death. As the woman looks out the window, she begins to think about her new life and what awaits her now that she is a widow. An important note about this story is that it takes place in the 1890s. In the 1890s, women had very few rights and were very dependent on their husbands, whether he liked her or not. As the woman looks out the window, the reader quickly discovers her true feelings. Through symbolic foreshadowing we discover... middle of paper ......here the poor will stay poor and the rich will stay rich. It's not good when a child's housing costs more than any children's home. Toys are toys, so they shouldn't cost large amounts of money, but because the toys in this store are only for rich and wealthy people, they prevent poor families and children alike from being able to afford them. In both stories, both authors used symbolism effectively to foreshadow the future of their main characters. In Chopin's "The Story of an Hour", the symbolism was entirely positive and pointed to a positive future for women. On the other hand, in Bambara's "The Lesson", the symbolism was very subjective and could be interpreted as positive or negative symbolism. I think the subjectivity of the Bambara's use of symbolism was more effective because it could be interpreted as positive and negative things..