What is "it" represent?

Question

In the below sentence, the underlined "it" is hard for me to find out what "it" stands for. In a way it seems "this apparently trivial story." And in another, it seems to indicate "cruelty or pain."

Could you tell me which is better?

He threw himself on me and knocked me down, shouting like a madman. I can no longer remember what he shouted. I want to show with this apparently trivial story that there are moments when indignation can rouse even a seemingly hardened prisoner—indignation not about cruelty or pain, but about the insult connected with it.

Vsuresh · Accepted Answer

I think it refers to cruelty or pain.

Stenka25 · Answer

Thanks for an immediate answer.

But someone I asked the same question said :

"but it makes much more sense to have "indignation" as the antecedent, and not "cruelty or pain", especially when we are told that this is not about "cruelty or pain".

What do you think of this?

Vsuresh · Answer

Yes, I agree with this view.

CalifJim · Answer

...to show with this apparently trivial story that there are moments when indignation can rouse even a seemingly hardened prisoner—indignation not about cruelty or pain, but about the insult connected with it.

it = the cruelty or pain mentioned earlier.

Stenka25"but it makes much more sense to have "indignation" as the antecedent, and not "cruelty or pain", especially when we are told that this is not about "cruelty or pain".

Let's suppose for a moment that indignation really is the antecedent. That would give the following analysis:

...moments when indignation can rouse even a seemingly hardened prisoner—indignation not about cruelty or pain, but about the insult connected with it.

=

...moments when indignation can rouse even a seemingly hardened prisoner—indignation not about cruelty or pain, but indignation about the insult connected with it.

And if it = indignation, then:

...moments when indignation can rouse even a seemingly hardened prisoner—indignation not about cruelty or pain, but indignation about the insult connected with the indignation.

Does it really seem likely that the meaning of the end of the sentence is, in effect,

indignation about the insult connected with the indignation?

Why have this self-referential loop with 'indignation about indignation'?

So you see why it doesn't make sense to me that it = indignation.

________________

Of course it's not about cruelty or pain; it about the insult associated with the cruelty or pain.

It's not about the insult associated with the insult, is it? Would that make sense?

CJ

What is "it" represent?

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