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Personification
Explanation and Analysis—The Oak Tree :
Over two years, Prince Andrei quietly institutes various reforms, recommended by Pierre, on his estate, despite his earlier cynicism. Traveling to the property in Ryazan gifted to his son, Nikolai or "Nikolushka," by his father, Prince Nikolai, Prince Andrei passes by an enormous oak tree. In the passage that follows, Tolstoy employs extensive personification:
At the side of the road stood an oak [...] It was an enormous oak, twice the span of a man’s arms in girth, with some limbs broken off long ago, and broken bark covered with old scars. With its huge, gnarled, ungainly, unsymmetrically spread arms and fingers, it stood, old, angry, scornful, and ugly, amidst the smiling birches. It alone did not want to submit to the charm of spring and did not want to see either the springtime or the sun. “Spring, and love, and happiness!” the oak seemed to say.
Tolstoy presents the oak tree in startlingly human terms, describing it as being "twice the span of a man's arms in girth" and as having "arms and fingers." Additionally, he writes that the tree is "old, angry, scornful, and ugly," with a bad temper that stands in marked contrast to the "smiling birches" around it. The tree, Tolstoy concludes, "did not want to submit to the charm of spring," but instead sarcastically dismisses"Spring, and love, and happiness" as mere illusions. The oak tree, which appears isolated from other trees, looking down on them haughtily, reflects Prince Andrei's own melancholy, antisocial, and cynical mood.
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