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Stenka25 Posted 10 years ago
Vocabulary

Meaning of two underlined phrases

Meaning of two underlined phrases

The passage below comes from The Gunslinger by Stephen King.

? The large display window to the right shattered inward and three men crowded through. Their faces were zealously blank, their eyes filled with bland fire. He shot them all, and the two that followed them.

These two underlined phrases seems to bring up some graphic images.
But I can't not visualize any image from the two underlined phrases ('zealously blank', 'bland fire').
So 'their faces' and 'their eyes' don't make any sense to me.

Help me.

Regards.
  

Top answer

Okay, this is not fine writing. But King is trying to say that the men are dehumanized. The important words are "blank" and "bland" (lacking personality or emotion).

— Doctor D

  • Okay, this is not fine writing.
  • But King is trying to say that the men are dehumanized.
  • The important words are "blank" and "bland" (lacking personality or emotion).
  • So "zealously" and "fire" are meant to emphasize that their faces and eyes are extremel y emotionless.
  • Does this answer your question?
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4 Answers
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Okay, this is not fine writing. But King is trying to say that the men are dehumanized. The important words are "blank" and "bland" (lacking personality or emotion). So "zealously" and "fire" are meant to emphasize that their faces and eyes are extremely emotionless.

Does this answer your question?
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I think I have the clear picture of the sentence.
Thanks a lot for your reply, Doctor D.
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To me, the author seems to be deliberately juxtaposing words with opposing meanings in order to achieve some kind of effect.
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