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What does "her hair spiked and in shock" mean?
A man was sitting with his back to her, just inside the row of plastic
potplants which fenced off the cafeteria. She had to narrow herself and slide
sideways to get past his inconveniently placed chair. Which of her senses
recognised him first? She was close enough to smell his unwashed hair, to
see the way his shirt collar stuck up stiffly round his ears, to hear the
cheerful slurp of his mouth at the cup. She was right behind him, poised on
her toes. Could it be? And if she spoke, would she be sorry afterwards?
‘Excuse me,’ she said.
He turned his head. It was Dexter.
Oh, her awful modern clothes, her hair spiked and in shock. He saw the
fan of lines at the outer corner of her eye and his heart flipped like a fish.
Does it mean: She had spiky hair and was in shock?
Or does it mean: her hair became spiked because of shock?
1 Answer
- 4 weeks ago
Based on that sentence, it sounds as if her hair was already spiked as a condition. As far as the "shock" portion, that suggests her emotions were that of being shocked. The author of this writing has a specific idea that they want to get across to the reader.
If we break this down, "spiked" is an adjective that is describing the actual state of the hair. "Shock" in this context is likely to mean a state of emotion, which is yet another adjective. The intent of the writer matters, but I am inclined to believe that the hair itself was spiked, and the emotion of the person was that of shock.