The term pathetic fallacy was originally coined by John
            Ruskin in order to define the use of poetic language (normally imagery and/or
            personification) to allow readers to attach emotion to natural or inanimate things. For
            example, language which appeals to the heightened senses of the reader acts as a
            pathetic fallacy.
In regards to the use of pathetic fallacy
            in Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein, one particularly poignant example is found in
            chapter five (where Victor is describing the circumstances under which the Creature came
            to life). 
The chapter opens upon a "dreary night of
            November." Shelley continues, from this point on, to compound the anxiety and fears of
            the reader. The rain hitting the window pane, the burnt candle, the "lifeless thing"
            which lay at Victor's feet are all meant to play upon the heightened emotions of the
            reader. 
When the Creature does come to life, its yellow
            eye, agitated limbs, and labored breathing all compound the already horrific scene set
            in the opening of the chapter. Victor's fear of the Creature, his race from his
            apartment, and the thought the Creature is following him (again) all add to the fearsome
            mood established through pathetic fallacy. 
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