Pathetic Fallacy

pathetic fallacy: a subdivision of personification, this figure of speech refers specifically to the technique of assigning human emotion to a concept, animal, or inanimate object

"So much of mankind's varied experience had passed there-so much had been suffered, and sometimes, too, enjoyed-that the very timbers were oozy, as with the moisture of a heart. It was itself like a great human heart, with a life of its own, and full of rich and sombre reminiscences.
The deep projection of the second story gave the house such a meditative look, that you could not pass it without the idea that it had secrets to keep, and an eventful history to moralize upon."
                                                                       -The House of the Seven Gables
                                                                               by Nathaniel Hawthorne



In this passage Hawthorne gives the house, an inanimate object, a meditative and sad personality. The house is said to have be sombre. In reality, the house cannot be sad or depressed or sombre any more than a computer can, however, casting it as such and using a pathetic fallacy reinforces the mood of the piece and foreshadows. One can guess that the book will not involve house parties, and summer days with lemonade and guests and beautiful gardens, but probably some dark and sad occurrences and people. Hawthorne uses this device to set the mood and tone of the novel while simultaneously foreshadowing the novel's events.