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Pathos
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 The Souls of Black Folk
Chapter 2: Of the Dawn of Freedom
Explanation and Analysis—Reconstruction:
Over the course of Chapter 2, Du Bois employs a wide variety of figurative language to paint a vivid picture of the political environment immediately after the American Civil War. In the following passage, he utilizes personification to underscore just how difficult a task the Freedmen's Bureau had been assigned:
When to the inherent difficulties of so delicate and nice a social operation were added the spite and hate of conflict, the hell of war; when suspicion and cruelty were rife, and gaunt Hunger wept beside Bereavement—in such a case, the work of any instrument of social regeneration was in large part foredoomed to failure.
Related Themes:
Chapter 5: Of the Wings of Atlanta
Explanation and Analysis—Atlanta:
Du Bois begins Chapter 5 with a reflection on the city of Atlanta, Georgia—a center for both education and industry, from which Black Americans are excluded. Du Bois describes Atlanta's "awakening" at the dawn of the Civil War, personifying the city as a woman:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Once, they say, even Atlanta slept dull and drowsy at the foot-hills of the Alleghenies, until the iron baptism of war awakened her with its sullen waters, aroused and maddened her, and left her listening to the sea. And the sea cried to the hills and the hills answered the sea, till the city rose like a widow and cast away her weeds, and toiled for her daily bread; toiled steadily, toiled cunningly.
