What is the literary device called that involves endowing non-human objects with human qualities?

The literary device that involves endowing non-human objects with human qualities is personification. This technique allows writers to create vivid imagery and emotional connections by attributing human traits, emotions, or behaviors to inanimate objects or abstract concepts. For example, in a line like "The wind whispered through the trees," the wind is given the human characteristic of whispering, which draws the reader into a more relatable understanding of nature.

While metaphor and simile are also devices used to create comparisons, they do not specifically focus on granting human characteristics to non-human entities. Metaphor makes direct comparisons between two unrelated things, suggesting one is the other, whereas simile uses "like" or "as" to highlight similarities between different subjects. Allegory, on the other hand, is a narrative technique in which characters or events symbolize deeper moral or political meanings, but it does not involve giving human traits to non-human objects in the way that personification does.