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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
Chapter 5
Explanation and Analysis—The Invisible Seeds:
To explain the threatening baobabs and the havoc they are creating on his planet, the little prince teaches the pilot about bad seeds and good seeds using personification:
But the seeds are invisible. They sleep in the secrecy of the ground until one of them decides to wake up. Then it stretches and begins to sprout, quite timidly at first, a charming, harmless little twig reaching toward the sun.
The little prince is shocked that the narrator does not know the danger of the baobab tree, as there are good plants and bad plants on every planet. In the slow process of growing into plants, the seeds initially sleep in the ground and then stretch toward the sun, as if they are waking up in bed. When they are sleeping in the ground, invisible to the eye, it is impossible to tell which seeds are good and which are bad. These active descriptions of tiny seeds reaching towards the sky also help to demonstrate the otherworldliness of the prince's asteroid in comparison to Earth. These differences and oddities are particularly shocking to the narrator in the beginning, especially after discovering the little prince in the middle of the desert.
This personification further depicts the little prince's imaginative depth and how the world around him remains constantly alive. The little prince likes to experience the world in vivid color, unlike many of the repetitive, vain adults that he meets on his journey.
Related Themes:
Chapter 25
Explanation and Analysis—The Singing Well :
When the little prince and the narrator finally find the well, they heave until the pulley releases freshwater. With personification, the story describes the disuse of the old well and therefore the wonder of its exercise:
And the pulley groaned the way an old weather vane groans when the wind has been asleep a long time.
"Hear that?" said the little prince. "We've awakened this well and it's singing."
The little prince uses personification to describe the miracle of the old well providing them with life-giving sustenance. When the pulley groans in an onomatopoeic manner, the little prince personifies the sound, exclaiming that the well has awakened and is now singing.
The sound of singing, which is widely associated with heaven, highlights the nearly religious miracle of finding a working well in the middle of the desert. The fact that this well offers the two characters life-saving water has a eucharistic tone, wherein the blood of Christ is life-giving.
The little prince's personification also underscores his youth and access to imagination. What the narrator hears as the groaning of a pulley system long in disuse, the little prince hears as angelic singing. However, not long after finding the water, the narrator learns to give into his imagination: After parting ways with the little prince, the narrator hears his peals of laughter in the stars.
Related Themes:
