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Literary Devices
Definition of Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human characteristics, emotions, and behaviors to animals or other non-human things (including objects, plants, and supernatural beings). Some famous examples of anthropomorphism include Winnie the Pooh, the Little Engine... read full definition
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human characteristics, emotions, and behaviors to animals or other non-human things (including objects, plants, and supernatural beings). Some famous examples of anthropomorphism include Winnie... read full definition
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human characteristics, emotions, and behaviors to animals or other non-human things (including objects, plants, and supernatural beings). Some famous... read full definition
Chapter 46
Explanation and Analysis—The Bee:
In the cabin in the deep forest, a bee buzzes into the room just after the young Miss Saeki. The bee is just one small piece of a larger scene, but it is granted human traits in a manner that echoes Kafka's state of mind:
The bee stops buzzing around and quietly lands above the windowpane. It seems to have some serious thinking to do. And so do I.
In this passage, the bee is described as having an interior complexity similar to Kafka. The sense of the bee acting with human intent carries over to the bee's exit:
The dozing bee wakes up and buzzes around me for a while. Then, as if finally remembering what it’s supposed to be doing, it flies out the open window. The sun shines down. I go back to the table and sit down.
The bee's actions anticipate Kafka's own. This anthropomorphism not only provides Kafka with a way to externalize his attitude, it also fits the uncanny mood of the village: a bee acting with deliberate, human-like intent matches the sense of completeness, of everything in the village occurring for a reason. It's also notable that Kafka is the one assigning human traits to the bee. It could reflect his own sense that, in this mysterious place deep within the woods, everything has an ordained purpose and everything feels complete. It could also suggest that Kafka is, at this point in his journey of self-discovery, more open to embracing similarities between himself and others, even if one of those "others" is a bee.
Related Themes:
