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Motifs
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
Key Examples in Night
Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—Paralyzing Words:
Eliezer wakes their neighbors and tells them that they are being transported the next day and must prepare for the journey. With personification, the story illustrates the difficulty Eliezer experiences in facing this forceful and fateful change:
Half asleep, he was staring at me, his eyes filled with terror, as though he expected me to burst out laughing and tell him to go back to bed. To sleep. To dream. That nothing had happened. It was all in jest …
My throat was dry and the words were choking me, paralyzing my lips. There was nothing else to say.
At last he understood.
Related Themes:
Chapter 6
Explanation and Analysis—Death Devours:
Halfway through the march to Buchenwald, the prisoners are allowed to stop, many of them falling asleep in the snow, which he knows is certain death without someone to watch over them. When Eliezer tries to “doze a little,” the personification of death stops him from giving in to sleep:
Unlock with LitCharts A+I stretched out and tried to sleep, to doze a little, but in vain. God knows what I would have given to be able to sleep a few moments. But deep inside, I knew that to sleep meant to die. And something in me rebelled against that death. Death, which was settling in all around me, silently, gently. It would seize upon a sleeping person, steal into him and devour him bit by bit. Next to me, someone was trying to awaken his neighbor, his brother, perhaps, or his comrade. In vain. Defeated, he lay down too, next to the corpse, and also fell asleep.
