How Did Emily Dickinson Use Personification In Because I Could Not Stop For Death

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Everybody has this event in his or her life, so it should not be a surprise, but yet so many people are taken off guard when this moment arises. It is entirely inevitable, yet few prepare for it. Death is something that everybody faces on a daily basis, yet it only takes one meeting to bring everything to an end. Since the beginning of life people have been trying to avoid death; in fact, it can be argued that the main point of living is to escape death. Life is highly valued and greatly cherished. Laws protect it and even promote a healthier life. With all of the focus placed on being alive, the intimidating aspect of death always lurks around the corner. Emily Dickinson uses personification and extended metaphors in “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” to show that death is a cold and inevitable reality.
One of the first ideas presented in this poem is the personification of Death. Emily Dickinson uses Death as an extended metaphor to shed new light on the subject. Her poem “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” does not directly explain …show more content…

Dickinson apparently believed that there is life after death. There is not a mention of heaven or hell, but the embodiment of mortality seems to indicate a supernatural being. When describing the grave, Dickinson wrote that there was "A Swelling of the Ground" which suggests that a large mass of people is getting confined to a small place. The resting place seems to be an uncomfortable place yet time passes quickly. "‘tis Centuries – and yet / Feels shorter than the Day" (lns. 21-22). This reference may be suggesting that there is no way of accurately describing death with regards to the living. The time in the afterlife is hardly comparable to that of the living. Therefore, it is impossible to prepare for death because nobody knows what truly happens after

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