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Pathetic Fallacy Examples

Decent Essays

Pathetic fallacy is a creative way to interpret emotions. When used in writing, it gives inanimate objects human like qualities to mirror a character feelings. Using this literary device, the reader can understand more thoroughly their motives and intentions. Through the circumstances of these objects, readers can, in a way, see feelings in a more physical sense. For example, Before an argument, a storm starts to form, which can illustrate how the opposing sides can be feeling. Because we often link thunders and storms with negative events, it can already give the reader a sense of what is about to happen. In a book, the author might say: “The sky began to darken and an angry storm began to brew” Using the words “angry” and “darken”, it is already a very obvious omen of what is to come. Another example would be having a cliche sunset at the end of a novel. In our minds, sunsets are associated with the end of the day, or a closing, so it would make sense for an author to use that to wrap up their book. …show more content…

Though it is a great tool to use for writing, many people confuse it for personification. They are very similar but are used differently. To be put simply, personification is to make a non human thing, seem more human. “The birds seemed to talk to us” is an example. Talking would be the human quality the birds are personifying. On the other hand, pathetic fallacy is to have an inanimate object reflect the mood of the scene or character. Pouring rain whilst a character is mourning would be an example of pathetic fallacy, where the rain is mirroring their emotions. Overall, this literary device is a clever way to present a character’s emotions in

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