COMMENTARY

1. "I've neglected the warnings of my lord the stomach too long.";

The seemingly jocular reference to the stomach shows Dick's desire to cheer himself up, his attempt at putting down his eye trouble to indigestion, at fighting his growing fear.

2. Dick saw the face as it hurried out into the street.

An instance of metonymy can be observed in this sentence (see commentary to Lessons 1 and 2). Speaking of the face that hurried out into the street Kipling means the man whose face really impressed Dick. The use of metonymy here draws attention to the expression of the man's face,.the expression that caught Dick's eye and gave rise to a new wave of fear.

3. Many people were waiting their turn before him.

Note the transitive use of the verb "to wait". This is rather a rare [63] case. Commonly the verb "to wait" is used intransitively with the preposition "for".

4. "That's idolatrous bad Art," he said, drawing the book towards himself. "From the anatomy of the angels, it has been made in Ger­many."

The binding and the illustrations of the Christmas-carol book re­vealed bad taste and God-worship. The manner of painting the bodies of the angels (sentimental and photographic) was that of the German school.

5. The doctor wrapped himself in a mist of words...Again the whirl of words...

In these sentences the novelist uses one of the most expressive tropes—a metaphor. It consists in the use of a word or a phrase to describe an object with which it is not commonly associated. This figurative use of a word or a phrase is based on some existing or supposed resemblance. The unusual application of a name or a descriptive term fixes the attention on those characteristics of the object described that are meant to be accentuated.

The metaphor can be expressed by any part of speech.

In the present selection one comes across the metaphorical use of

verbs:

...a man cannoned against him.

The doctor wrapped himself in a mist of words.

and nouns:

f. e. Again the whirl of words......a mist of words.

6. "frontal bone", "optic nerve", "mental anxiety";

The introduction of medical terms into the narration creates the atmosphere of a doctor's consulting-room.

7. Many sentences were pronounced in that darkened room, and the prisoners often needed cheering.

Another instance of the metaphorical use of nouns could be ob­served here (sentence, prisoner). These words are commonly associated with the court of justice, not with the doctor's consulting-room. Their use in this context stresses the hopelessness of Dick's position. The word "verdict" used above plays the same role.

8. "One cannot ascertain the exact amount of injury inflicted by the sword-cut.";

Note a vast difference in the vocabulary used by the doctor and by Dick. A careful selection of dry unemotional terms characterizes all the doctor's remarks. Professional coolness and indifference of a suc­cessful practitioner are felt beyond his measured speech. It is all the more evident, as contrasted with Dick's informal emotional utter­ances: "Verdict?" "What do you make of it?" etc. [64]

9. Dick went into the street, and was rapturously received by Binkie… Binkie wagged his tail joyously.

The enthusiastic way in which the dog met his master only accen­tuates Dick's loneliness. The only living being that was with him at the moment was his dog.

10. "We've got it very badly, little dog!" "We're to be shut up...";

The use of the pronoun "we" is of interest here. Kipling subtly re­flects Dick's attempt to share his tragedy with someone if only a clog.

11. "How could it have come without any warning?";

"Could+Perfect Infinitive" expresses Dick's incredulity, his refusal to believe in the coming blindness.

Note that "could" is used to express doubt, incredulity only in interrogative and negative sentences.

12. "We're to be shut up in the dark... and we shan't see anybody, and we shall never have anything we want..."

We observe here such an arrangement of similarly built clauses (parallel constructions) which is called called climax. It means that each clause (phrase or sentence) is more significant in meaning than the previous one. The stylistic value of this figure of speech is empha­sis. And indeed the emotional tone of this sentence where each clause surpasses the previous one in intensity of expression is suggestive of great nervous strain.