What is Anthropomorphism? — Definition and Examples
Anthropomorphism definition
Anthropomorphism occurs when something that is non-human behaves like a human. The human characteristics are typically attributed to animals and objects that act as living, breathing human characters.
Authors incorporate anthropomorphic characters to create a connection between the characters and the audience, and to make complex ideas easier for young readers to understand and make inferences to human terms.
Children’s authors also utilize anthropomorphistic animals and characters to help retain a child’s attention, providing whimsical images that readers cannot perceive in the real world.
Connection example: Detailing an anthropomorphized storm that angrily crushes buildings under its feet and hurls lightning across the sky allows readers to visualize the weather and view the non-human entity as something that desires to bring chaos and destruction.
Accessible example: Writing about perseverance by using a person who looks like he cannot help move heavy items due to his size may not be easy for a child to understand. Instead, utilizing an anthropomorphic train that pushes itself, knowing it can succeed as long as it does not give up, can be easier to grasp, as in Watty Piper's "The Little Engine that Could."
Types of anthropomorphism
There are four main types of anthropomorphism: literal, metaphorical, analogical, and symbolic.
Literal anthropomorphism is when something either has a human form or the behavior of a human.
Example: Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy; Disney’s Mickey Mouse
Metaphorical anthropomorphism, also known as personification, occurs when an inanimate object or natural phenomena has human characteristics.
Example: The tree danced in the wind.
An anthropomorphic analogy identifies that something is “like” a human being in some way. Words such as “like” and “as” indicate that there is a comparison, making an analogical anthropomorphism.
Example: The tree danced like a ballerina in the wind.
Symbolic anthropomorphism is when a human (or human-like) figure symbolically represents something else.
Example: The Greek god Ares is an anthropomorphic symbol of war.
Anthropomorphism examples
The following examples showcase the use of anthropomorphism:
Children’s Books
“The Cat in the Hat” by Dr. Seuss: Dr. Seuss utilizes an anthropomorphic cat with human features throughout many of his stories.
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White: Charlotte's Web includes anthropomorphic characters such as Charlotte (spider), Wilbur (pig), and Templeton (rat).
Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne: Not only is the titular character an anthropomorphized bear, but so are the majority of other characters – Piglet (pig), Kanga and Roo (kangaroos), Tigger (tiger), and Eeyore (donkey).
Literature
Animal Farm by George Orwell: Orwell utilizes anthropomorphic representations of farm animals to present various historical figures made prominent by the Russian Revolution.
The Metamorphosis by Frank Kafka: Kafka's protagonist wakes up one morning to discover he has transformed into a bug. The character maintains his ability for rational thought, a trait held by humans.
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll: Carroll anthropomorphizes multiple characters such as the White Rabbit, Cheshire Cat, Caterpillar, and Dormouse.
Poetry
"What the Rattlesnake Said" by Vachel Lindsay: "The Moon's a little prairie-dog. / He shivers through the night. / He sits upon his hill and cries / For fear that I will bite. / The Sun's a broncho. He's afraid / Like every other thing, / And trembles morning, noon and night / Lest I should spring and sting."
The speaker of Lindsay's poem is an anthropomorphized snake.
"Bright star, would I were steadfast as thou art" by John Keats: "Bright star, would I were steadfast as thou art— / Not in lone splendor hung aloft the night / And watching, with eternal lids apart, / Like nature's patient, sleepless Eremite."
Throughout the poem, Keats anthropomorphizes the titular star.
Pop Culture
Disney Movies: Disney has incorporated numerous anthropomorphic objects and animals with human emotions and mental states, such as the toys from Toy Story, animals in Bambi and The Lion King, and the castle objects in Beauty and the Beast.
Video Games: Various video games incorporate anthropomorphized main characters such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Yoshi (Super Mario Bros.), and Donkey Kong.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Along with an anthropomorphized rat, these turtles with human qualities star in video games, television shows, and movies.