Question

He took a cable which had seen service on a blue bowed ship, made one end fast to a high column in the portico... As when long-winged thrushes or doves get entangled in a snare, which has been set in a thicket... with nooses round their necks, to bring them to the most pitiable end. For a little while their feet twitched but not for very long. What did he do with the cable?

1) Tied it to a column
2) Used it to catch birds
3) Used it to make a snare
4) Cannot be determined

Answer 1

The cable was tied to a column as its literal use in the passage. The metaphor of birds and a snare represents entrapment and doom, but doesn't imply the cable's use for catching birds.

Step-by-step explanation:

The cable in the passage was tied to a column. The extended metaphor involving birds and a snare is describing the fate of the characters in an allegorical manner, suggesting entrapment and inevitable doom, similar to birds caught in a snare. However, there is no direct mention of the cable being used to catch birds or make a snare, hence we cannot determine that the cable served those purposes. Instead, the cable's literal use, as stated in the passage, was to be made fast to a column.