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Allusions
Definition of Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human characteristics, emotions, and behaviors to animals or other non-human things (including objects, plants, and supernatural beings). Some famous examples of anthropomorphism include Winnie the Pooh, the Little Engine... read full definition
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human characteristics, emotions, and behaviors to animals or other non-human things (including objects, plants, and supernatural beings). Some famous examples of anthropomorphism include Winnie... read full definition
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human characteristics, emotions, and behaviors to animals or other non-human things (including objects, plants, and supernatural beings). Some famous... read full definition
Anthropomorphism
Explanation and Analysis:
Anthropomorphism plays an active role in "The Selfish Giant." Wilde anthropomorphizes the plants in the Giant's garden, the weather, and the seasons. Some of the nouns are referred to with capitalized names, a choice Wilde makes to suggest that they are not only things but real characters. These elements of nature possess human feelings as well as the ability to act on these feelings, which adds to the story's fairytale quality.
Once a beautiful flower put its head out from the grass, but when it saw the notice-board it was so sorry for the children that it slipped back into the ground again, and went off to sleep.
The description of the flower isn't a mere instance of personification, since the flower actually possesses human emotions and motivations (in the world of the story, that is). While personification consists of figurative language that gives non-human things human-like characteristics in a metaphorical way, anthropomorphism makes a more literal claim that non-human things are actually capable of human behavior. The flower does not behave like someone who wants to go back to sleep, it genuinely feels sorry for the children and returns underground.
A similar technique is at play in the following passage:
The only people who were pleased were the Snow and the Frost. "Spring has forgotten this garden, they cried,
so we will live here all the year round." The Snow covered up the grass with her great white cloak, and the Frost painted all the trees silver.
Wilde is not discreet about his anthropomorphism—he directly refers to the Snow and the Frost as "people." In addition to being capable of human-like behavior, the natural phenomena that Wilde anthropomorphizes speak to one another and collaborate. In this part, the reader even sees that the clothes and actions relate to what they do, as the snow wears a "great white cloak" and the frost paints the trees silver.
