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Pathos
Definition of Personification
Personification is a type of figurative language in which non-human things are described as having human attributes, as in the sentence, "The rain poured down on the wedding guests, indifferent... read full definition
Personification is a type of figurative language in which non-human things are described as having human attributes, as in the sentence, "The rain poured down... read full definition
Personification is a type of figurative language in which non-human things are described as having human attributes, as in the... read full definition
Chapter 3
Explanation and Analysis—A Landscape Personified:
Wells's novel is replete with personifications of the natural environment. For example, when the Traveller first arrives in the future and finds himself caught in a storm in Chapter 3, Wells personifies the weather:
There was the sound of a clap of thunder in my ears. I may have been stunned for a moment. A pitiless hail was hissing round me, and I was sitting on soft turf in front of the overset machine.
Here the Traveller describes the inert hail as a "pitiless" agent that is "hissing" around him. This framing personifies the hail, ascribing to it a cruel, human-like intention. This serves to create a sense of danger and urgency and dramatizes the Time Traveller's predicament.
In his retelling of the experience to his friends in Chapter 4, the Travaller personifies several other elements of the environment in which he finds himself. This device highlights the foreignness of the landscape, the menace he perceives in its empty beauty, and his sense that he is not alone—that he is being observed by something unseen:
The building had a huge entry, and was altogether of colossal dimensions. I was naturally most occupied with the growing crowd of little people, and with the big open portals that yawned before me shadowy and mysterious.
The "portal" here is personified as a "yawning" mouth, a characterization that produces a menacing effect. This description conveys the unfamiliarity of the architecture and the nervousness the Traveller feels in his early exploration. The imagery of a mouth also serves to draw a connection between the above-ground habitat of the Eloi, and the morbid fate that haunts their nighttimes—their predation by the Morlocks. While the landscape initially seems devoid of danger and wholly suited to human wellbeing, the Traveller quickly comes to realize that there is a hidden threat lurking beneath the surface. This subconscious sense of threat emerges as the Traveller explores the unfamiliar terrain and is conveyed to the reader through these instances of personification.
Related Themes:
Chapter 4
Explanation and Analysis—A Landscape Personified:
Wells's novel is replete with personifications of the natural environment. For example, when the Traveller first arrives in the future and finds himself caught in a storm in Chapter 3, Wells personifies the weather:
There was the sound of a clap of thunder in my ears. I may have been stunned for a moment. A pitiless hail was hissing round me, and I was sitting on soft turf in front of the overset machine.
Here the Traveller describes the inert hail as a "pitiless" agent that is "hissing" around him. This framing personifies the hail, ascribing to it a cruel, human-like intention. This serves to create a sense of danger and urgency and dramatizes the Time Traveller's predicament.
In his retelling of the experience to his friends in Chapter 4, the Travaller personifies several other elements of the environment in which he finds himself. This device highlights the foreignness of the landscape, the menace he perceives in its empty beauty, and his sense that he is not alone—that he is being observed by something unseen:
The building had a huge entry, and was altogether of colossal dimensions. I was naturally most occupied with the growing crowd of little people, and with the big open portals that yawned before me shadowy and mysterious.
The "portal" here is personified as a "yawning" mouth, a characterization that produces a menacing effect. This description conveys the unfamiliarity of the architecture and the nervousness the Traveller feels in his early exploration. The imagery of a mouth also serves to draw a connection between the above-ground habitat of the Eloi, and the morbid fate that haunts their nighttimes—their predation by the Morlocks. While the landscape initially seems devoid of danger and wholly suited to human wellbeing, the Traveller quickly comes to realize that there is a hidden threat lurking beneath the surface. This subconscious sense of threat emerges as the Traveller explores the unfamiliar terrain and is conveyed to the reader through these instances of personification.
Related Themes:
