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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
Book 2, Chapter 6: Land of the Lost (1992-1995)
Explanation and Analysis—Mongoose:
In The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, the Mongoose is an agent of “zafa” or blessing. Zafa, and thus the Mongoose by extension, is essentially the antidote to fukú—the one force that can adequately combat the curse. The Mongoose often assumes human characteristics as it enacts justice. For example, the animal acts as a human in Oscar’s mind. In Chapter 6, Díaz writes,
Oscar remembers having a dream where a mongoose was chatting with him. Except the mongoose was the Mongoose. What will it be, muchacho? it demanded. More or less?
Here, the Mongoose becomes almost a god-like figure, capable of conversing with Oscar and then answering his needs. This anthropomorphism—the transformation from a mongoose to the Mongoose—turns the animal into a spiritual figure. This human-esque version, the Mongoose, appears to lead Beli and Oscar out of the canefield.
While Díaz writes about the Mongoose as if it’s a human, he also compares human characters to mongooses when they act as saviors. For example, when La Inca plays a hero role in Beli's life, Díaz uses a simile, writing that she had “a mind like a mongoose.” In this case, La Inca has been counteracting fukú by taking Beli in. That goodness is compared to a mongoose, even when enacted by a human.
Related Themes:
