Little Girl Editor
Personification is defined as giving human qualities and characteristics to an object, animal, or idea.
In Jessica Page Morrell’s book, Between the Lines, she has a section on personification. As an excellent example of the figurative use of language, she included a paragraph from Toni Morrison’s novel Tar Baby. I had not read Morrison’s book, but I went out and bought it after reading this paragraph.
“Only the champion daisy trees were serene. After all, they were part of a rain forest already two thousand years old and scheduled for eternity, so they ignored the men and continued to rock the diamondbacks that slept in their arms. It took the river to persuade them that indeed the world was altered. That never again would the rain be equal, and by the time they realized it and had run their roots deeper, clutching the earth like lost boys found, it was too late.”
What a beautiful, vivid piece of writing. Daisy trees having arms and rocking diamondbacks to sleep present an image not easily forgotten. Morrison also made the trees content and in denial over the destruction around them. The river rang the alarm that destruction was imminent and life, as nature knew it, would never be the same.
Think about Morrison’s choice of the daisy tree. Its common name alone represents a whimsical joy, unlike the hawthorn trees with branches of thorns. The river, powerful, wise, and always in motion, is the perfect force in nature to alert of danger ahead.
So, rather than telling the reader about a tragic event, impending doom, or glorious encounter, show us with words that will take your breath away and make your heart dance.
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