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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 4
Explanation and Analysis—The Avocado Tree:
After Son threatens Jadine with sexual violence in Chapter 4, Jadine leaves his company to inform Valerian of the incident. While walking on the street, she ruminates on her prior experience with toxic men—a scene that Morrison heightens with an anthropomorphic description of the trees surrounding Jadine:
“Oh, horseshit!” she said aloud. It couldn’t be worth all this rumination, she thought, and stood up. The avocado tree standing by the side of the road heard her and, having really seen a horse’s shit, thought she had probably misused the word. Jadine dusted off the back of her skirt and turned towards the house. The avocado tree watched her go then folded its leaves tightly over its fruit.
In the passage above, Morrison uses anthropomorphism, attributing human characteristics to the non-human avocado tree. That the tree may have “thought” or “watched” Jadine is figurative, for trees do not possess the human capacity to think, watch, or hear. However, Morrison’s figurative language has a powerful effect: it creates the feeling of surveillance within the narrative. It appears as if the natural landscape surrounding Jadine has a human-like conscience. They notice her and analyze her movements.
Morrison’s third-person narrator does not make it clear whether this anthropomorphism exists primarily in Jadine’s head or not. Rather, this literary device reveals Morrison’s poetic and movement-focused style of writing. It also contributes to the novel's broader themes of surveillance and the policing of bodies and minds.
Related Themes:
