When the weather or natural world mirrors a character's emotions - storms for anger, sunshine for joy, rain for sadness.
Pathetic fallacy is the attribution of human emotions to nature, especially weather and landscapes. When it rains at a funeral or the sun breaks through the clouds as the hero triumphs, that is pathetic fallacy at work. The term was coined by Victorian critic John Ruskin, and despite the word 'pathetic,' it has nothing to do with being lame - it comes from 'pathos,' meaning emotion. It is one of the most instinctive techniques writers reach for, which is both its strength and its danger.
Used thoughtfully, pathetic fallacy amplifies emotional moments by making the entire world seem to resonate with what your characters feel. It taps into a deep human instinct to see the world as responsive to our emotions. But because it is so instinctive, it can easily become a cliche. The trick is knowing when the environment should echo the mood and when it should contrast with it.
The storm on the heath is perhaps the most famous pathetic fallacy in English literature. As Lear's mind unravels, the natural world erupts in chaos around him.
The wild Yorkshire moors mirror the passionate, destructive emotions of Heathcliff and Catherine. The landscape is not just a backdrop - it is an extension of their inner lives.
The ashen, dead landscape reflects the total despair of the post-apocalyptic world. The absence of life in nature mirrors the absence of hope.
Challenge yourself to find less obvious correlations. Maybe grief is a still, airless afternoon. Maybe rage is a frozen lake. The less expected the environmental choice, the more powerful it feels.
Pathetic fallacy should amplify emotions that are already established through character and action. If you are relying entirely on a thunderstorm to make a scene feel dramatic, the scene itself is not working.
If the weather always matches the mood, it becomes predictable and loses its power. Save it for moments that truly need the extra resonance.
Write the same short scene - a character sitting alone on a park bench after a difficult conversation - three times. In version one, use traditional pathetic fallacy with weather that mirrors the mood. In version two, use ironic contrast with weather that opposes the mood. In version three, make the weather completely neutral. Compare which version hits hardest and consider why.