A Piece of Steak

Where personification means to ascribe human traits to nonhuman things, zoomorphism means to ascribe animal features to human things. The term is derived from the Greek words “zoon” and “morphe,” which mean “animal” and “form,” respectively.

In “A Piece of Steak,” London uses animalistic imagery to describe Tom and his struggles. Early in the story, the narrator calls Tom a “sheer animal” and describes him as possessing “sleepy, lion-like” eyes, like those “of a fighting animal” (1). Later, the story likens one of his punches on Sandel to “a sleepy-seeming lion suddenly thrusting out a lightning paw” (11). The narration even frames Tom’s journey to the Gayety as being akin to an animal’s: He is leaving “to get meat for his mate and cubs […] in the old, primitive, royal, animal way, by fighting for it” (4). The sport of boxing itself is quite brutal and conjures up images of two jungle animals fighting for supremacy. Indeed, the way the story unfolds—with a young challenger finally defeating an old “King”—recalls the popular conception of a young lion taking over a pride by challenging the older, current alpha male. Thus, zoomorphic terms structure the entire story.