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Allusions
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
Part 2, Chapter 4
Explanation and Analysis—The Land Did It:
The narrator and characters (especially Alexandra) often anthropomorphize the land, treating it as though it were another human character. One example occurs in Part 2, Chapter 4, when Alexandra tells Carl not to give her too much credit for the success she has had staying on the land:
The land did it. It had its little joke. It pretended to be poor because nobody knew how to work it right; and then, all at once, it worked itself. It woke up out of its sleep and stretched itself, and it was so big, so rich, that we suddenly found we were rich, just from sitting still.
There is some literal truth to the idea that Alexandra's patience is what has allowed her to reap the benefits of the land. For instance, it took many years for the apricot trees she and Carl planted to produce fruit. This years-long wait for farming to yield profitable or even sustainable results is a normal part of agriculture. Especially in a new climate that requires immigrants to adapt their agricultural knowledge to its unique challenges, it makes sense that there would have been some trial, error, and waiting involved in getting the Bergson farm off the ground.
But in Cather's novel, nearly everything has a symbolic meaning as well. Alexandra's patience is born out of her deep faith in the land to give back to her the love she has invested in it. She believes that the land is rewarding this faith. Whereas many of the other immigrants, including Carl, left because they had their sights set on faster capitalist success in North America, Alexandra trusted that the land would come through for her. She has treated her relationship with the land as she would her most treasured human relationship. Like a human, the land has expectations of the people who are in relationship with it. When it wasn't producing anything for the people living there, Alexandra claims, it was because they were treating it poorly. When most of these people left it to its own devices, the land came into its own and offered its abundance to those who had "sat still," simply trusting in it.
Related Themes:
