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Paradox
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 1: Paradise Pickles & Preserves
Explanation and Analysis—The Uneasy Octopus:
When Estha is sent to live with his father in Calcutta, he grows very quiet and stops speaking entirely. Through personification, the story illustrates the arrival of "the quietness":
Once the quietness arrived, it stayed and spread in Estha. It reached out of his head and enfolded him in its swampy arms. It rocked him to the rhythm of an ancient, fetal heartbeat. It sent its stealthy, suckered tentacles inching along the insides of his skull, hoovering the knolls and dells of his memory, dislodging old sentences, whisking them off the tip of his tongue. It stripped his thoughts of the words that described them and left them pared and naked. Unspeakable. Numb. […] He grew accustomed to the uneasy octopus that lived inside him and squirted its inky tranquilizer on his past. Gradually the reason for his silence was hidden away, entombed somewhere deep in the soothing folds of the fact of it.
This “quietness” is brought to life in Estha as some kind of tentacled being that enfolds and invades him. This being, with "its stealthy, suckered tentacles," strips Estha of his memory and thoughts, rendering him quiet. It is Estha's childlike imagination that transforms his trauma into an octopus in his mind: Accepting the psychological invasion of an octopus is easier than facing the truth of his trauma.
Estha's silence is, in reality, a reaction to the traumatic events that occurred surrounding Sophie Mol's death, Velutha's murder, and his separation from Rahel. As a child, he is incredibly vulnerable to his emotions and the desires of others, making it easy for this personified "quietness" to overtake him. Having been taken from his home and twin sister, Estha does not have the strength to fight the octopus and stop it from inking over his past.
Chapter 8: Welcome Home, Our Sophie Mol
Explanation and Analysis—History Caught Off Guard:
As Velutha plays with Rahel and Estha, Ammu watches from afar. The novel uses a hyperbole and personification to describe the importance of Ammu's gaze upon Velutha:
The man standing in the shade of the rubber trees with coins of sunshine dancing on his body, holding her daughter in his arms, glanced up and caught Ammu’s gaze. Centuries telescoped into one evanescent moment. History was wrong-footed, caught off guard. Sloughed off like an old snakeskin. Its marks, its scars, its wounds from old wars and the walking-backwards days, all fell away. In its absence it left an aura, a palpable shimmering that was as plain to see as the water in a river or the sun in the sky. As plain to feel as the heat on a hot day, or the tug of a fish on a taut line. So obvious that no one noticed.
This passage hyperbolizes the power of Ammu’s gaze, wherein centuries pass in that one moment. Together, Ammu and Velutha attempt to change the history books and the Love Laws to no avail. History is also personified as being “caught off guard” and having “wounds from old wars,” as if it does not expect a Touchable and Untouchable to fall in love. Therefore, the love shared between Ammu and Velutha causes history to change into something new, plain for all to see. Ammu and Velutha have cracked open the hard facade of history and found a shimmering hope underneath. They believe that the power of their love, against all odds and the Love Laws, is strong enough to prove history wrong.
Related Themes:
Chapter 10: The River in the Boat
Explanation and Analysis—The Old Boat:
On the banks of the Meenachal, the twins find an old, rundown boat, which they describe with childlike personification and a simile:
They looked across the river with Old Boat eyes. From where they stood they couldn’t see the History House. It was just a darkness beyond the swamp, at the heart of the abandoned rubber estate, from which the sound of crickets swelled.
Estha and Rahel lifted the little boat and carried it to the water. It looked surprised, like a grizzled fish that had surfaced from the deep. In dire need of sunlight. It needed scraping, and cleaning, perhaps, but nothing more.
Estha and Rahel compare the Old Boat to a fish returned from the deep, covered in muck and river plants. It is dirty, but like a fish, it is alive beneath the surface, ready to ride the currents of the river. The twins also use personification, attributing a look of surprise to the Old Boat. This example of personification demonstrates the childlike perspective and imaginative tendencies of Estha and Rahel, as they imbue a basic object like a boat with animal-like mannerisms and appearances. The Old Boat is shocked to have been found by two children, to have been dragged back into the sunlight. Through the discovery of this boat, the reader continues to understand how the twins use personification, similes, and metaphors to escape from their tired and sometimes cruel reality.
Related Themes:
Chapter 19: Saving Ammu
Explanation and Analysis—The Loss of Childhood:
When Baby Kochamma forces Estha to testify against Velutha, the inspector takes the boy to see the bloodied, dying man. The narrator uses personification to describe the effect that this experience has on Estha:
Inspector Thomas Mathew squatted on his haunches and raked his jeep key across the sole of Velutha’s foot. Swollen eyes opened. Wandered. Then focused through a film of blood on a beloved child. Estha imagined that something in him smiled. Not his mouth, but some other unhurt part of him. His elbow perhaps. Or shoulder.
The Inspector asked his question. Estha’s mouth said Yes.
Childhood tiptoed out.
Silence slid in like a bolt.
Someone switched off the light and Velutha disappeared.
In this passage, the novel uses personification to demonstrate the lack of intention in Estha, likely due to his state of shock, misunderstanding, and fear. Still just a child, Estha does not understand the politics of the situation—one of the primary reasons that Baby Kochamma sends him in to slander Velutha and save his mother.
Without intention, Estha’s mouth responds for him, and “childhood tiptoed out.” Without dialogue, the reader assumes that Estha betrays Velutha to save his mother in this moment, a decision that would tear apart even an adult. This personification illustrates the innocence of childhood, as it exits Estha's life gently and with regret. In comparison, the silence of trauma and reality slides in “like a bolt” with no shame, violent and absolute.
Related Themes:
Chapter 21: The Cost of Living
Explanation and Analysis—A Serene Crocodile:
When Ammu goes down to the river to meet Velutha, she does not see him at first. Velutha is swimming "farther downstream" in the river, as the narrator describes with personification and a fitting metaphor:
Farther downstream in the middle of the river, Velutha floated on his back, looking up at the stars. His paralyzed brother and his one-eyed father had eaten the dinner he had cooked them and were asleep. So he was free to lie in the river and drift slowly with the current. A log. A serene crocodile. Coconut trees bent into the river and watched him float by. Yellow bamboo wept. Small fish took coquettish liberties with him. Pecked him.
The novel compares Velutha to a log or a “serene crocodile” as he drifts and swims down the river. This metaphor paints Velutha as a calm and collected man that subtly attracts the attention of others. He blends in with the background but is always there to help. Therefore, it is unsurprising that Ammu and the kids should feel so drawn towards Velutha and his generosity. Even the coconut trees are personified in this passage, bending down to watch Velutha float by in the river. The coconut trees also create a watchful mood, hinting towards how Vellya Paapen watches Velutha's rendezvous with Ammu and then betrays his own son. The bamboo even weeps, an omen of Velutha's near and harrowing death.
Related Themes:
