In a subtle example of foreshadowing, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters decide to lie to Mrs. Wright about her canning jars of fruit, determining that they will tell Mrs. Wright that the jars are in fine condition despite the fact that they have burst. The following passage captures the passion with which Mrs. Hale makes this request of Mrs. Peters:
If I was you I wouldn't tell her her fruit was gone! Tell her it ain't. Tell her it's all right—all of it. Here—take this in to prove it to her! She—she may never know whether it was broke or not.
This is an example of foreshadowing because, later in the story, the women again decide to tamper with evidence in order to protect Mrs. Wright, this time in a more high-stakes way. Rather than simply lying about fruit jars, they willfully hide the dead bird that they found in one of Mrs. Wright’s boxes, afraid that if they showed it to the attorney and sheriff, the two men would put the clues together the way they did, and see how Mrs. Wright possibly killed her husband the same way that he killed her songbird.
The passage in which Mrs. Hale pleads with Mrs. Peters to tell Mrs. Wright that the jars are fine is particularly important, as it shows how desperate the women are to protect Mrs. Wright. They never say out loud that they are going to intentionally hide the bird from the men to protect their friend, and this moment helps readers to understand why they make the decision that they do.
