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Motifs
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
Act 1, Scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—Tired Apartment:
Hansberry makes use of personification in one of her stage directions, describing the apartment furnishings as if they were people:
Its furnishings are typical and undistinguished and their primary feature now is that they have clearly had to accommodate the living of too many people for too many years—and they are tired[…]. Now the once loved pattern of the couch upholstery has to fight to show itself from under acres of crocheted doilies and couch covers which have themselves finally come to be more important than the upholstery. And here a table or a chair has been moved to disguise the worn places in the carpet; but the carpet has fought back by showing its weariness[...].
The furnishings are "tired," the upholstery has “to fight,” and the carpet both fights and shows "its weariness." Before the reader has encountered a single character, the stage is literally set. The reader feels the fatigue of the family, who through no coincidence are all asleep as the tired scene is described by Hansberry.
This personification of the apartment—which will be the setting of the entire play—illustrates the plight of the Youngers, implying their physical and spiritual exhaustion through their residence alone. The Youngers can not escape the weariness of their existence, their home just as tired as they are. The personification of the apartment, however, elevates the payoff of the novel’s conclusion, with the Youngers putting their old apartment to rest as they fulfill their dream of moving into a new home.
Related Themes:
