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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
Volume 1, Part 2: Chapters 13–20
Explanation and Analysis—Gasping Earth:
Tolstoy uses personification in his depiction of the earliest actions of the Battle of Schöngraben. While Prince Andrei looks for ways to help strengthen the Russian army's position during a temporary truce with the French army, he encounters the familiar figure of Tushin, a battery officer:
“Herb liqueur’s possible,” said Tushin, “but even so, to understand the future life…” He did not finish. Just then a whistling was heard in the air; closer, closer, faster and louder, louder and faster, and a cannonball, as if not finishing all it had to say, crashed to the ground with inhuman force not far from the lean-to, throwing up a spray of dirt. The earth seemed to gasp from the terrible blow.
Tushin and some of the other soldiers joke, chat, and even drink alcohol in the lead-up to the battle, surprising the well-disciplined Prince Andrei. As Prince Andrei approaches Tushin, the truce comes to a shocking and abrupt end. Before Tushin can finish his sentence, a loud "whistling" sound moves quickly through the air. Suddenly, a cannonball "crashed to the ground with inhuman force," signaling that the battle has begun. "The earth," Tolstoy writes, "seemed to gasp from the terrible blow." Here, Tolstoy personifies the earth as gasping, as if with surprise, after being struck by the cannon. Here, as elsewhere, the novel suggests that war is an unnatural injury to the earth itself, at odds with the peace and plentitude of the natural world.
Related Themes:
Volume 2, Part 3: Chapters 1–6
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.
Related Themes:
