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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
Personification
Explanation and Analysis—A Bad Little Town:
Harte uses personification to suggest that socially prescribed morals homogenize and empower groups of people, regardless of whether those morals are right. Because of this, the town of Poker Flat itself is often given characteristics more usually attributed to self-righteous humans, as the narrator explains when describing the town's response to "sin":
"[...] it was only in such easily established standards of evil that Poker Flat ventured to sit in judgment.
The residents of the town of Poker Flat become an undifferentiated mass, united behind the “secret committee” that exiles the “outcasts” for their behavior. The “town” decides who is good and who is bad by these “standards of evil”—standards targeting such things as gambling, drinking, and prostitution—and “the town” takes action against those who can easily be condemned. The "secret committee" has made the decision to exile the hapless group, but the town itself is actually described as having emotional experiences and desires:
In point of fact, Poker Flat was "after somebody." It had lately suffered the loss of several thousand dollars, two valuable horses, and a prominent citizen. It was experiencing a spasm of virtuous reaction, quite as lawless and ungovernable as any of the acts that had provoked it.
This "spasm of virtuous reaction" makes the town itself seem like a cruel judge who has ousted the banished group because of "narrow[] [...] prejudice." It also justifies, for the people left, the decision to deport Mr. Oakhurst and his companions. If Poker Flat is a character in itself, "deporting" its "wickedness" seems like a reasonable response to making things better "for it." Of course, this isn't the case, as the author later shows. Rather than being a symbol of moral goodness, the “town” is portrayed by Harte as being defined by cruelty and ignorance, and its "virtuous reactions" as inhumane and brutal.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Watched by Sun and Moon:
“The Outcasts of Poker Flat” uses personification to make elements of the natural world seem sympathetic to the characters in the story. This is most obvious after Uncle Billy steals their mules, and the sleeping “outcasts” are placed in real and immediate danger by the heavy snowstorms, starvation, and exposure:
The wind lulled as if it feared to waken them. Feathery drifts of snow, shaken from the long pine-boughs, flew like white-winged birds, and settled about them as they slept. The moon through the rifted clouds looked down upon what had been the camp.
The wind “lulls,” or calms down, as it passes over the sleeping outcasts, in contrast to the previous snowstorm, which had “dazzled and confused” them. The wind here even softens the presence of the deadly snow which, rather than “imprisoning” them, settles around them like gentle birds. The moon watches over their sleep like a human guardian, providing them with company and a semblance of safety even if it cannot ultimately protect them. In a manner quite different to the snow and the cold, which the author implies are antagonistic to the “outcasts,” the sun, the wind, and the moon appear to feel empathy for and wish to help the stranded characters.
However, like the reader, these personified elements cannot help, but merely "watch." This makes the world of the outcasts much more vivid for the reader, placing them in a similar helpless position to these entities. It also emphasizes the comparative lack of compassion given to Oakhurst and his companions by the cruel townsfolk of Poker Flat. The sun, moon, and wind are more human and sympathetic than the "secret committee" who exile the group from civilization. The personification of these natural objects becomes more and more apparent as the situation of the “outcasts” becomes more dire:
[...] The sun, looking through the white-curtained valley, saw the outcasts divide their slowly decreasing store of provisions for the morning meal. It was one of the peculiarities of that mountain climate that its rays diffused a kindly warmth over the wintry landscape, as if in regretful commiseration of the past.
As it observes the "outcasts" parceling out the last pitiful elements of their sustenance, the sun is also described as a watchful observer here, and its rays as diffusing a “kindly warmth” over the scene. The sun quite literally sympathizes with the situation of the "outcasts," as it sheds light over them in “regretful commiseration of the past,” attempts to warm them, and bears witness to their suffering. In contrast to the impersonal and powerful snow and cold which envelop and eventually doom the group, the personification of some elements of the natural world as regretful and sympathetic helps the reader to understand the hopelessness of the group's situation.
