Nathaniel Hawthorne employed personification, allusion, and theme to develop his characters In The House of the Seven Gables. These and other literary devices help flesh out his tales. Without literary devices, a story is two-dimensional and forgettable, but The House of the Seven Gables is a tale that has withstood the test of time.
When Phoebe first discovered the garden, she saw the scrawny chickens who “regarded her with queer, sidelong glances, and then croaked one to another, as if communicating their sage opinions.” The chickens were looking at Phoebe, but they were not actually examining her to see if she might be of use to them. Hawthorne’s practice of describing the fowl this way is crucial to the development of strong personalities. Additionally, Hawthorne’s description of the Pyncheon mansion as having “secrets to keep”, and needing to “moralize upon them” aids in establishing the house itself as a character. Hawthorne knew that by weaving personification through his script, the setting and imagery in his story would be more vibrant. …show more content…
More than 30 times he refers to biblical, mythological, historical, literary, and philosophical events. His usage of allusions allows him to borrow a mood or setting from something else so that he can better elaborate his point. For example, Hawthorne wrote of the Pyncheon Elm, “[The bough] was like the golden branch that gained Aeneas and the Sibyl admittance into Hades.” This particular allusion foreshadows the following scene where the death of Judge Pyncheon is revealed. Because the setting of The Aeneid is dark, and the branch is light, Hawthorne can use Virgil’s imagery to create a new scene in the reader’s
When Phoebe first discovered the garden, she saw the scrawny chickens who “regarded her with queer, sidelong glances, and then croaked one to another, as if communicating their sage opinions.” The chickens were looking at Phoebe, but they were not actually examining her to see if she might be of use to them. Hawthorne’s practice of describing the fowl this way is crucial to the development of strong personalities. Additionally, Hawthorne’s description of the Pyncheon mansion as having “secrets to keep”, and needing to “moralize upon them” aids in establishing the house itself as a character. Hawthorne knew that by weaving personification through his script, the setting and imagery in his story would be more vibrant. …show more content…
More than 30 times he refers to biblical, mythological, historical, literary, and philosophical events. His usage of allusions allows him to borrow a mood or setting from something else so that he can better elaborate his point. For example, Hawthorne wrote of the Pyncheon Elm, “[The bough] was like the golden branch that gained Aeneas and the Sibyl admittance into Hades.” This particular allusion foreshadows the following scene where the death of Judge Pyncheon is revealed. Because the setting of The Aeneid is dark, and the branch is light, Hawthorne can use Virgil’s imagery to create a new scene in the reader’s