Question

In the following quotation, what is anthropomorphized, and what human characteristics are ascribed to it?

A frouzy mourning of soot and smoke attired this forlorn creation of Barnard, and it strewed ashes on its head, and was undergoing penance and humiliation as a mere dust-hole.

Answer 1

Answer: The subject of the passage is a house or houses which are decaying, and they are, in effect, in mourning as well as undergoing penance for a sin or sins. Dust, in Dickens' day, meant human refuse - sewage and the other rubbish that people simply threw into the street. The area being described is thus, in effect, a cess pit, an area of decay and misery where death is always present.

Step-by-step explanation: