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Why is the proverb "Fear knocked the door. Faith answered. There was no one there." an example of personification?
Quick answer:
The proverb "Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered. And lo, no one was there." is an example of personification because it attributes human actions to non-human entities, Fear and Faith. Specifically, Fear is depicted as capable of knocking on a door and Faith as able to answer it. Both actions require human-like intention and physical abilities, which these abstract concepts don't possess in reality. The proverb uses this personification to convey the idea that faith can overcome fear.
Personification is when a poet or speaker gives human attributes or abilities to something that is not human.
Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered. And lo, no one was there.
This proverb is a good example of personification, then, because it ascribes human abilities to both Fear and Faith: both abstract and intangible concepts that are, obviously, not human. Fear is given the human ability to knock at a door; to do this, it must have both the intention to knock and the ability to do so—so it must have hands or some physical part with which it can knock. Faith is given the human ability to answer the door; to do this, it must have both the intention to open the door and the physical ability to do so. Again, then, it must have some body part with which it is capable of opening a door.
Ultimately, the proverb means that, when we have faith, we will have no need to fear. However, it uses two examples of personification in order to convey this idea.
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