Why, the Grim Reaper had put up his tent on our doorstep!… Stella. Belle Reve was his headquarters! Honey – that’s how it slipped through my fingers!
– Tennessee Williams
A Streetcar Named Desire, Scene 1. Williams uses personification to emphasize how Blanche has been haunted by so much death with the loss of her parents and relatives. She compares death to a real person that took up residence in the family’s ancestral home and stalked her, leading to the loss of Belle Reve.