Metaphors and personification are two different terms authors use to describe characters, set scenes, and showcase themes. Join us today at What We Writing as we break down the differences between the two terms and teach you how to use both of them effectively in your own writing!
What Is A Metaphor?
The term “metaphor” has its origins in Greek, from the word “metaphorá”, which literally translates to “carrying over” or “transfer.” The term is used to directly compare one thing to another for rhetorical purposes. Whilst you’re probably familiar with the common use of metaphors being “A is B,” the term “metaphor” is actually broader than that, encompassing other literary terms such as similes.
Example of a metaphor: His mind was a maze, with thoughts twisting like vines and no clear path to the truth.
This metaphor example compares his mind to a maze – not literally, but metaphorically – to demonstrate confusion or complexity, without using “like” or “as” (which would make it a simile instead).
Check Out Our Guide To Writing Metaphors Vs Similes Vs Analogies
What Is Personification?
Personification is a literary device that uses the non-literal use of language to convey concepts in a more accessible way. Authors utilise personification to give human characteristics, like emotions and behaviours, to non-human things such as thoughts, animals, and objects. One good example of personification in effect would be the following:
Example of personification: The whispered secrets through the cracks in the old castle walls.
In this personification example, the wind is given the human trait of whispering, which the wind obviously cannot really do. That’s personification in action – making something non-human act like it has human qualities.
Check Out Our Guide To Writing Purple Prose
Differences Between Metaphor Vs. Personification
Metaphors and personification can be effective tools in your writing toolkit, but they are literary devices that serve very distinct purposes. Here’s a quick breakdown of the key differences between personification and metaphor:
Description
Writers can use metaphors and personifications to describe settings in their work, but in varying ways. A metaphor makes a rhetorical comparison between two things that aren’t alike, i.e. “Her smile was a cracked mirror.”
An author is also able to use personification to craft a narrative setting, such as “the moon followed her down the empty road.”
Attributes
Both metaphors and personification use comparison; however, personification exclusively utilises human qualities in animals and other non-living things. For example, in Aesop’s fable of The North Wind and the Sun, the wind and the sun are personified with human traits to compete to see who could make a traveller remove his coat fastest.
Alternatively, a metaphor can be used to compare a person, place, or thing to another person, place, or thing, such as “her grief was a tidal wave, crashing over everything without warning.” This example compares grief to a tidal wave – sudden, overwhelming, and destructive – without using words like “like” or “as”, keeping it firmly nestled in metaphor territory.
Usage
Both metaphors and personification are common figurative language. Metaphors tend to drift toward being cliche, namely the likes of the “that is the icing on the cake,” “he was drowning in paperwork,” or “it was a real rollercoaster of emotions.”
At the same time, metaphors can be especially effective for breaking down abstract ideas, since you are able to compare two unrelated things in a number of different ways; this literary device lends itself to plenty of creative iterations.
Personification, which lends human qualities to inanimate objects, has a more limited usage in comparison to metaphors, as you are always forced to give an object these characteristics.
James has been passionate about storytelling ever since he could hold a pen. Inspired by the epic fantasy and historical dramas he devoured in his youth, his work now centers on dark, psychological tales featuring intense, introspective characters and atmospheric, gothic undertones. In 2025, he founded What We Writing to share his creative journey and the lessons he’s learned along the way with fellow writers and passionate storytellers.
