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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
Chapter 13: The Quaker Settlement
Explanation and Analysis—The Motherly Chair:
In Chapter 13, the narrator uses anthropomorphism to describe a rocking chair in the Halliday home:
In it, neatly contrived out of small pieces of different colored woollen goods, and a larger sized one, motherly and old, whose wide arms breathed hospitable invitation seconded by the solicitation of its feather cushions,—a real comfortable, persuasive, old chair, and worth, in the way of honest, homely enjoyment, a dozen of your plush or brochetelle drawing-room gentry; and in the chair, gently swaying back and forward, her eyes bent on some fine sewing, sat our old friend Eliza.
The narrator describes the chair, an inanimate object, as if it were a human being—in this case someone "motherly and old." This personification continues throughout the passage, as the narrator continues to describe the chair in human terms. Rather than using a simple, straightforward description of the chair as welcoming, comforting, or inviting, Beecher Stowe uses figurative language to present these traits to the reader in a creative and memorable way.
That Eliza is seated in this "motherly" chair is significant. Beecher Stowe does this to emphasize Eliza's status as a mother, a fact Beecher Stowe knew would appeal to her audience's emotions and sense of right and wrong. Eliza risks capture in order to protect her son.
The characterization of the rocking chair as a motherly, safe presence also emphasizes the Halliday home, where the chair resides, as a refuge for Eliza and her son. In this sense, the chair reflects the Quakers' humane and generous spirit, which is rooted in their faith. The Quakers played a major role in the abolition movement and were among the first in the United States to oppose slavery.
Related Themes:
