Personification in Home Anonymous 12th Grade

The poem “Home” by Warsan Shire speaks out for refugees by describing the unthinkable and difficult decisions refugees are forced to make on a daily basis. Shire employs personification and second person techniques in order to portray the idea that no one wants to be forced out of their own home, yet every day, we seem oblivious to the millions who are being displaced in Syria due to the dangerous warfare. These techniques convey this important idea by putting the reader in the refugee’s shoes, helping them to become more aware of the current Syrian refugee crisis.

Shire utilizes personification to emphasize the idea that no one truly wants to abandon their home unless their life is at risk. In the second line of the first stanza, Shire describes home as “the mouth of a shark”, giving the word ‘home’ living characteristics. This portrays the idea that home is forcing you to run, and escape the danger, (the shark's mouth), that exists where you currently live due to atrocities such as bombing, missile attacks, shootings and sexual assault committed mainly by the main threat, ISIS. Shire also deploys personification in the line, “until home is a sweaty voice in your ear, saying, leave...” She depicts home as being a desperate and...