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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
Volume 4, Book 2: Eponine
Explanation and Analysis—The Icy Breath of Poverty:
After witnessing the ambush at the Jondrette lair and discovering the truth about Thenardier, Marius moves out of the Gorbeau building. The story illustrates Marius's subsequent descent into poverty with personification:
To crown all, his poverty had returned. He felt that icy breath close to him, on his heels. In the midst of his torments, and long before this, he had discontinued his work, and nothing is more dangerous than discontinued work; it is a habit that vanishes. A habit that is easy to get rid of, and difficult to take up again.
When Marius loses his passion and desire to work, he becomes idle. He can feel poverty's “icy breath” on him. Here, poverty is personified as it breathes down Marius's neck with no reprieve. Poverty is an ominous being who is close behind Marius and always on his heels.
On the streets of Paris at this time, the poor are often left to rot in the streets, and as the weather turns and winter comes, they move towards the chill of death. Marius can feel this miserable future waiting for him. Like with Bossuet's metaphor, cold and snow play negative roles in the novel, as they predict some sort of tragedy on the horizon. In this case, the narrator implies that poverty, with its "icy breath," leads to death.
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Volume 4, Book 7: Slang
Explanation and Analysis—A Somber Andromeda:
In Volume 4, Book 7, the narrator discusses the origins and nature of slang, particularly how it connects the common man to the criminal world. In an effort to exhibit the downfalls of the justice system and its adverse affect on criminals, the narrator uses personification:
Alas! Will no one come to the succor of the human soul in that darkness? […] Will she forever summon in vain to her assistance the lance of light of the ideal? Is she condemned to hear the fearful approach of Evil through the density of the gulf, and to catch glimpses, nearer and nearer at hand, beneath the hideous water of that dragon’s head, that maw streaked with foam, and that writhing undulation of claws, swellings, and rings? Must it remain there, without a gleam of light, without hope, given over to that terrible approach, vaguely scented out by the monster, shuddering, disheveled, wringing its arms, forever chained to the rock of night, a somber Andromeda white and naked amid the shadows!
This proclamation is shared in response to the development of slang songs in places like the cellar below the Chatelet—a holding place for criminals before being sent to the galleys in Toulon. There is a two-fold personification here between the human soul and evil. Human souls, fragile creatures at the mercy of the light and the darkness, are left to rot in Chatelet. Meanwhile, evil is a dragon with a foaming maw and endless claws. Evil is an unthinkable creature that cannot be defeated, one who preys on the weak. By personifying the human soul as a victim of this dragon of evil, the narrator is able to more fervently prove the cruelty of the justice system and society’s prejudices.
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Volume 5, Book 1: The War Between Four Walls
Explanation and Analysis—Progress Awakes:
In the chaos of the revolt, fear quickly spreads through the streets of Paris. However, the narrative uses personification to prove that even catastrophe yields a step in right direction:
He who despairs is in the wrong. Progress infallibly awakes, and, in short, we may say that it marches on, even when it is asleep, for it has increased in size. When we behold it erect once more, we find it taller. To be always peaceful does not depend on progress any more than it does on the stream; erect no barriers, cast in no boulders; obstacles make water froth and humanity boil. Hence arise troubles; but after these troubles, we recognize the fact that ground has been gained. Until order, which is nothing else than universal peace, has been established, until harmony and unity reign, progress will have revolutions as its halting-places.
By attributing human characteristics to progress, the narrator demonstrates its resistance and resilience. No matter what obstacles or barriers get in its way, progress is infallible. Like an army in war, progress marches on through catastrophes and fields of death, standing tall. Like a small child, it slumbers, growing imperceptibly taller before its parents' eyes. Progress drives history. With this personification, then, the narrator illustrates the importance of insurrections and the voice of the people. Every event, catastrophic or beautiful, is progress making its way—slowly but surely—towards the universal goal of peace.
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Volume 5, Book 4: Javert Derailed
Explanation and Analysis—The Fierce Abyss:
As Javert stares down into the depths of the Seine, he contemplates his existence in such a gray world. The narrator uses imagery and personification to illustrate his introspection amid the dark and foreboding waves of the river:
A sound of foam was audible; but the river could not be seen. At moments, in that dizzy depth, a gleam of light appeared, and undulated vaguely, water possessing the power of taking light, no one knows from where, and converting it into a snake. The light vanished, and all became indistinct once more. Immensity seemed thrown open there. What lay below was not water, it was a gulf. […] Nothing was to be seen, but the hostile chill of the water and the stale odor of the wet stones could be felt. A fierce breath rose from this abyss. The flood in the river, divined rather than perceived, the tragic whispering of the waves, the melancholy vastness of the arches of the bridge, the imaginable fall into that gloomy void, into all that shadow was full of horror.
Javert stands on the quay and contemplates his existence, staring down into the "abyss" below with horror both at the prospect of his own death and the immensity of the world waiting before him. The story uses a combination of imagery and personification to describe the undulating light and dark of the Seine, which not only sets the scene but also frames the river as a reaper. Javert feels the “chill of the water” and smells the “stale odor of the wet stones.” Moreover, the gulf before him breathes, alive and waiting for him to jump into its grasp. It whispers to him, drawing him towards the edge.
By personifying the abyss, the narrator also takes the blame away from Javert for his death. With a gulf of darkness beneath him, beckoning him, Javert could not have chosen any differently than to jump into its void.
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