Pathetic Fallacy

English Language: Edexcel IGCSE - Specification B, topic 2.1.5

Pathetic fallacy is when a writer gives human emotions to things that are not human, such as objects, animals or, most commonly, the weather.

The furious winds blew across the plains.
In this phrase, you are creating an image of the wind feeling fury. This is pathetic fallacy because fury is a human emotion and wind cannot actually feel any sort of emotion.
By giving the wind a human emotion, it helps the reader to visualise the severity of its anger.
The idea of the wind being able to feel this emotion also humanises it and suggests that it has a consciousness.

She balled her fists in anger as the sea raged behind her.
In this phrase, you are creating an image of the sea feeling rage. This is pathetic fallacy because rage is a human emotion and sea cannot actually feel any sort of emotion.
By giving the sea a human emotion, it helps the reader to visualise the severity of the rage – it almost seems ready to attack.
The anger of the character is also highlighted and then emphasised because the sea is echoing her feelings as well.

Mud-coloured clouds drooped sadly over the muddy streets as the criminal continued to elude them.
This is pathetic fallacy because sadness is a human emotion and clouds cannot actually feel any sort of emotion.
By giving the clouds a human emotion, it helps the reader to visualise the thick, opaque clouds blocking our view.
The idea of the clouds feeling sad paints a picture of them hanging low, moving slowly, and obscuring everything.

Tips for Using Pathetic Fallacy

Pathetic fallacy is when a writer gives human emotions to things that are not human, such as objects, animals or, most commonly, the weather.

Pathetic fallacy can also be used when the weather echoes human emotions (e.g. when something sad happens, it is raining).
This is a form of personification but refers purely to giving human emotions to inhuman things.

Be careful with how you use the pathetic fallacy – your choice of emotion will either emphasise the mood you want to create or will change it completely.

Pathetic fallacy can be used to set the scene, reinforce a feeling, or foreshadow something happening in the future.
If you want to really emphasise the effect, have the weather echo an emotion from a character.

What is pathetic fallacy?
Which phrase uses pathetic fallacy?
Your character is feeling confused. How could you use pathetic fallacy to emphasise her feelings?
Your character is feeling livid. How could you use pathetic fallacy to emphasise their feelings?