|
Have questions?
Contact us
Already a member? Sign in
|
Get every literary device explanation for EducatedPlus so much more...
Sign up for LitCharts A+Get instant access to every literary device explanation, plus so much more...
Personification
Explanation and Analysis—Time Escaping:
In Chapter 6, Tara gives deeper insight into the nature of her father's delusions. An important motivator in Gene's indefatigable work ethic is a fear of time. Westover describes this by personifying time:
Dad lived in fear of time. He felt it stalking him. I could see it in the worried glances he gave the sun as it moved across the sky, in the anxious way he appraised every length of pipe or cut of steel. Dad saw every piece of scrap as the money it could be sold for, minus the time needed to sort, cut and deliver it. Every slab of iron, every ring of copper tubing was a nickel, a dime, a dollar [...] and he constantly weighed these meager profits against the hourly expense of running the house.
Time seems to be "stalking" Gene and (as he sees it) his whole family. Gene feels that every second must be spent preparing for inevitable disaster—and the most efficient way to prepare is by making money. As a result Gene tries to maximize efficiency in his junkyard. At the same time, he tries to minimize the "hourly expense" of caring for his family. Another consequence of his fear of time is that he sees every moment of life as costly, expending resources to house, feed, and warm a large group of people. This personification gains a new level with Gene's "worried glances" at the sun, as if its slow passage over the course of the day reminds him of time "stalking." Gene's fear of time runs throughout the memoir, reaching its most extreme point in his paranoia over Y2K. The personification gives a clear description of this important part of his deluded personality.
Monthly
Annual (Best Value)
$595USD/mo
Charged $71.40 USD every year
Teacher$795USD/mo
Charged $95.40 USD every year
Literature Guide PDFs
LitCharts PDFs for every book you'll read this year.
Instant PDF downloads of all 2238 LitCharts literature guides and of every new one we publish. Try a free sample literature guide.
"Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!"
Quotes Explanations
Find the perfect quote. Understand it perfectly. Then rock the citation, too.
For all 49,909 quotes we cover.
For all 49,909 quotes we cover.
Teacher Editions
Close reading made easy for students.
Time saved for teachers.
For every book we cover.
Time saved for teachers.
For every book we cover.
Common Core-aligned
PDFs of modern translations of every one of Shakespeare's 37 plays, 154 sonnets, and 3 longer poems.
Literary Terms and Devices
Definitions and examples for every literary term and device you need to know.
Plus a quick-reference PDF with concise definitions of all 136 terms in one place.
Plus a quick-reference PDF with concise definitions of all 136 terms in one place.
Try a free sample literary term PDF.
Advanced Search
Refine any search. Find related themes, quotes, symbols, characters, and more.
Related Themes
Comparing and contrasting texts? Find where any theme occurs across all of LitCharts in seconds.
Poetry Guides
Line-by-line explanations and analysis of figurative language and poetic devices.
For every lyric poem we cover.
For every lyric poem we cover.
