Previous
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 5
Explanation and Analysis—Crying Streets:
When the mashpia talks to Asher about his inability to control his gift in school in chapter 5, he imagines the street outside by personifying it:
I watched the mashpia put his hands on the desk, saw him still talking to me, and thought the street was crying and wondered how I could paint the street crying. [...] It’s my street and I can’t draw it. I want to paint it, I have to paint it while it’s crying, and why am I sitting here? They’re going to take my street away from me, I thought. Do streets in Vienna cry? Not for Jews, they don’t. Ribbono Shel Olom, what are You doing to me?
The personification in this example is the idea of the street crying, because crying is something humans do and the street is an inanimate object. The idea of the crying Brooklyn street represents Asher's anguish about having to leave Brooklyn but also the anguish in the global Jewish community that is actively being persecuted. In wondering if the streets in Vienna cry, he is wondering what life will be like in the city he is supposed to move to with his family. In concluding that those streets don't cry for Jews, he is expressing fear about what life will be like in Vienna for his visibly Jewish family.
By seeing the world in such an animate way and wanting to paint the street "crying," Asher also shows how the the world is very much alive to him, because he has an artistic gift that allows him to see things differently from other people.
Related Themes:
Chapter 11
Explanation and Analysis—Marble Heads:
In Chapter 11, Asher's mentor, Jacob, displays a sculpture he made of his and Asher's heads, which somebody purchases. As Asher imagines the statue's future, he personifies it:
When I left the gallery later that afternoon, it was still crowded. On the subway ride home, I thought about the sculpture of the two heads and wondered where they would put it. In a library? In a garden? In a living room? What would the eyes stare at? Ornate drapery? Marble? Books in leather bindings? Rare flowers? It was a queer feeling to know that a likeness of my head would soon be in the home of one of the wealthiest families in America.
The personification at play in this example is that Asher is imagining the statue's eyes staring at its surroundings, as if it has a life of its own. He's specifically concerned with the "likeness of [his] own head" experiencing life in an unfamiliar place. Asher's thoughts about the sculpture capture a feeling of depersonalization and commodification he's experiencing as an artist moving further in his career. In some ways, his gift feels more and more out of his control, and it gets him into transactional, confusing relationships like the one he has with Jacob. This passage is thus a literal rendering of Jacob "molding" Asher and using him for profit.
Related Themes:
Chapter 14
Explanation and Analysis—Leaping, Clutching:
In Chapter 14, Asher discovers the fact that Anna had placed his controversial crucifixion paintings in a very central location at the gallery where he's having his exhibition. Potok personifies the paintings in the following passage:
I came to the end of the short wall and turned and caught my breath. She had placed the crucifixions on the wall opposite where I stood, before the turn to the elevator. They dominated the wall. I stared at them and felt them leap across the entire length of the gallery and clutch at me.
Here, the crucifixion paintings are personified as "dominating" the wall and "leaping" and "clutching" at Asher. Assigning these human actions to the paintings is how Potok communicates their power and brings them alive. The imagery in the paintings is incredibly loaded and found by many Hasidic Jews in Asher's community to be offensive, most of all his parents. Potok's personification contains a certain violence that gets across the paintings' offensive nature. It also conveys the fear Asher has in this moment about how his parents will react, as they have not yet seen the paintings. He has just reconciled with them but understands that the paintings will destroy all that.
Related Themes:
