Personification – Say What?!

What is Personification?

Personification is the attribution of human or human-like characteristics to an inanimate object or natural phenomena. It is commonly used to create imagery and symbolism in writing. Personification is often confused with Anthropomorphism in which human-like characteristics are literally attributed to animals and objects. While both may be applied to inanimate objects, they are not the same thing and therefore, not interchangeable.

When do writers use Personification?

Personification is a literary device used to give human characteristics to inanimate objects. Writers frequently incorporate personification into similes and metaphors to add depth to their writing. Personification frequently contributes to the development of vivid imagery and makes a writer’s writing more interesting and engaging.

How to use Personification

Only use personification to attribute human-like traits to an inanimate object.Do not apply human-like behaviors (walking, talking, etc.) to the thing you are personifying. 
Do not apply human-like behaviors (walking, talking, etc.) to the thing you are personifying. 
Use personification when you want to make it easier for your reader to relate the object being personified.
Use personification when you want to demonstrate the object’s role in a story more clearly.
 Personification may be used as a single word, line, or phrase.

A great example of personification is Lady Justice – The blindfolded woman holding balancing scales in one hand and a book in the other is a representation of justice. In this example, justice is being personified. To explain, the woman represents the concept of Justice and it is the concept or idea of justice that is being personified as the idea, not the woman, balances of the scale of justice

Personification in Literature 📚

Act III, Romeo and Juliet,William Shakespeare subtly personifies the night when Juliet says, “Come, gentle night; come, loving, black-brow’d night” 
 In J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien cleverly personifies the Ring as a powerful and evil force when he writes, “One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.”
 In The Odyssey, Homer personifies the sea as a dangerous and unpredictable force in the line, “The sea was like a millstone, grinding us down.”

Personification in Children’s Literature 🧸

The children’s author, Shel Silverstein, is well-known for his incorporation of personification into his children’s poems and stories. In “Dancing Pants,” Silverstein humanizes the pants by implying they are so talented that they do not need to be worn to dance.

Personification in Songs 🎧

.”Here Comes the Sun,” The Beatles – Rarely do we have the pleasure of seasons being personified in song, much less as happy go lucky things, but The Beatles seldom disappoint as illustrated here in the song’s lyrics:

 Jimi Hendrix is a special case as he is widely renowned for his skill as a guitarist, but his song lyrics attend to the emotional and imaginative aspects of the listener’s mind. In “The Wind Cries Mary,” he personifies the wind at the end of  each stanza and in the final line of the song as a person calling out to a woman named Mary. The lyrics read,  “And the wind whispers, ‘Mary,’” “And the wind, it cries, ‘Mary,’” and as the song climaxes, like a person searching for a loved one, the wind as becomes more frantic as illustrated in the lyric,“And the wind screams, ‘Mary’.”

“The Isla Bonita,” Madonna – Ever the chameleon, Madonna’s take on Latin turned heads and climbed the charts. The lyrics, 

personified the tropical island breeze as a living thing, possibly even a man. The imagery created through the personification of the wind continued for the duration of the song and is highlighted in the lyric above as the wind is carried on the sea’s back while calling out to the singer.

Personification in Poetry ✍🏽

In Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven, ” the narrator personifies the bird’s eyes by implying the raven is a messenger of death when Poe writes, saying,

In her poem, “Hope is the Thing with Feathers,” Emily Dickinson personifies the idea of hope with the line, “Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul.”
 In “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud,” William Wordsworth uses personification throughout the poem, beginning with the title itself. In the stanza below, he humanizes the cloud by implying that it is a lonely soul floating above the field of daffodils. He uses personification to create the image of the daffodils as a large crowd of people gathered in the field.

Personification in Movies 🎥

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005)

Personification in Advertising 📺

It’s understandable where the confusion lies when trying to use or explain personification and anthropomorphism correctly. This is why it is not surprising that personification seems to be grossly misrepresented in advertising.

At first glance, it appears that advertising campaigns are chock full of examples of personification. However, while legitimate examples may exist, an overwhelming majority of advertising campaigns and internet identifications have gotten it wrong. 

What is being illustrated in these ad campaigns is Anthropomorphism, which attributes literal human characteristics and traits, such as walking, talking, etc., to animals and inanimate objects.

Key examples of this error are: The Kool-Aid Man, M&Ms, and the Aflac duck, but in truth, the list is quite extensive.

The key to getting it right is to always remember personification humanizes an object without literally making it walk or talk like a human. Anthropomorphism makes a nonhuman thing act like a human.

Often Confused with Personification 👥

Anthropomorphism – Attribute human or human-like characteristics to nonhuman entities such as animals or inanimate objects rather than only inanimate objects like personification. Anthropomorphism makes a nonhuman thing act like a human.

FAQ 🤔