Sometimes in life, it seems like nature reflects us. From stormy weather to match our struggles, or the warmth of the sun on our back to mirror the warmth of the joy in our hearts, pathetic fallacy follows our every move, both in our realities and in the many books we read. This is especially evident in the story “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst and the poem “David” by Earle Birney, where each path the characters take is wrought with descriptions that reflect their actions. Whether the choice be positive or negative, these two pieces use pathetic fallacy to match the tone of the action.
In both of these works, the positive occurrences are reflected by how nature is described. For instance, when the narrator goes to show Doodle “the only beauty [he] knew, Old Woman Swamp,” the place is described quite euphoniously, as the narrator “pulled the …show more content…
They spend a large quantity in this beautiful place, with Old Woman Swamp becoming the location Doodle can finally dispose of the gocart that brought him there for the first time. As Doodle stands after what seems like ages of practice, that narrator says that “Hope no longer hid in the dark palmetto thicket but perched like a cardinal in the lacy toothbrush tree, brilliantly visible...the grass beneath us was soft and the smell of the swamp was sweet” (Hurst 160). The success of this endeavour leads the narrator to formulate a development program of sorts for Doodle to prepare him for school. In their excitement, the narrator states that “Promise hung about us like the leaves, and wherever we looked, ferns
In both of these works, the positive occurrences are reflected by how nature is described. For instance, when the narrator goes to show Doodle “the only beauty [he] knew, Old Woman Swamp,” the place is described quite euphoniously, as the narrator “pulled the …show more content…
They spend a large quantity in this beautiful place, with Old Woman Swamp becoming the location Doodle can finally dispose of the gocart that brought him there for the first time. As Doodle stands after what seems like ages of practice, that narrator says that “Hope no longer hid in the dark palmetto thicket but perched like a cardinal in the lacy toothbrush tree, brilliantly visible...the grass beneath us was soft and the smell of the swamp was sweet” (Hurst 160). The success of this endeavour leads the narrator to formulate a development program of sorts for Doodle to prepare him for school. In their excitement, the narrator states that “Promise hung about us like the leaves, and wherever we looked, ferns