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Recently, I stumbled upon the excerpt below, and the last part confused me considerably. Although I generally understand the separate parts and the syntax of the sentence, I can't quite decode the overall meaning and semantics.

But Phil knew, God knows he knew, what it was to be a pariah, and he had loathed the world, should it loathe him first.

(From The Power of the Dog by Thomas Savage)

I believe the author intended to state that he hated the world just to be the first to loathe between the world and himself, as a preemptive measure. However, I am not sure if I have understood the sentence correctly.

How would you describe the exact structure and meaning of this sentence?

Justin
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Amir Baghi
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1 Answers1

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[...] should it loathe him first

This is an example of should with inversion. This is semantically equal to,

"[...] if it (read: the world) should loathe him first.

I believe this implies that, because he was an outcast, the world hated him and as a result, he had hated the world. In other words, in the event that the world hated him, i.e., when he became an outcast, Phil had loathed the world as a result.

should modal verb (POSSIBILITY)
formal

used when referring to a possible event in the future:

  • If anyone should ask for me, I'll be in the manager's office.
  • Should you (= if you) ever need anything, please don't hesitate to contact me.

(Collins dictionary)

Other examples with a similar structure:

Next Sunday, he will be sub goalie and is prepared to do duty again should his team need him.

He declined to comment on where the buses would move to should the depot be sold.

If you say that other people can use your material for commercial purposes, then you can't withdraw that permission should you change your mind.

(From Lexico)

Justin
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  • Thanks for the insight! I think what threw me off was the fact that past perfect is used here, while "should" usually implies a possibility in the future. Therefore, the event has happened (rejection by the world), but the structure instead insinuated a possible scenario to me. For me, this mixture was a little strange. – Amir Baghi Feb 21 '22 at 10:47
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    Also, I would like to upvote your answer, but apparently I do not have enough reputation here. So, take my sincere gratitude for taking the time to answer! – Amir Baghi Feb 21 '22 at 10:56
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    I'm not convinced that 'should it loathe him first' doesn't mean a pre-emptive stance, as OP suggests. 'Should' is extremely polysemous. I'd suggest as the intended meaning 'he had loathed the world, lest it should manifest its loathing towards him first.' – Edwin Ashworth Feb 21 '22 at 11:46
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    @EdwinAshworth 'Lest' was the exact word that came to my mind when trying to decipher the meaning. But, I was not sure if 'should' can be interpreted as such. Do you have other examples of this specific 'should' usage in mind? – Amir Baghi Feb 21 '22 at 11:57
  • If I'd evidence, Amir, I'd have posted a corresponding 'answer'. I think we need access to the full OED entry on 'should'. I think @tchrist once posted a fair slice of it, or it might have been referencing 'would'. – Edwin Ashworth Feb 21 '22 at 12:30
  • @EdwinAshworth: I thought so too, but 'should' isn't synonymous with 'lest' at all. Many dictionaries give examples of sentences involving "should" as used in the original text, so I thought that'd be it. Frankly, I don't do too well in answering time-related questions, so please excuse my shoddy answer. – Justin Feb 21 '22 at 13:47
  • @EdwinAshworth: I don't see a reason for him to hate the world before the world hates him. If the world treated me like an outcast, I would definitely hate the world for doing so as a result. – Justin Feb 21 '22 at 14:03
  • As @EdwinAshworth kindly pointed out, I looked up the tchrist answer including the OED entry on 'should', and I found an interesting notion in sense 22e of shall under the should section: "In clause (now almost always with lest) expressing the object of fear or precaution." I believe this is a reasonable explanation for this usage of 'should' and the proposed meaning. Here's the link to the full answer: link – Amir Baghi Feb 21 '22 at 14:03
  • @AmirBaghi: I would recommend you to unaccept my answer and wait for other users to answer. I'm considering deleting my answer to think over it, although I still feel what I've mentioned in my answer is plausible. – Justin Feb 21 '22 at 14:13
  • @Justin In my opinion, your interpretation may be more reasonable in general, but on further consideration, I believe the other proposed meaning is also appropriate in the context of the story since Phil is a man who hides his inner feelings by displaying an aggressive manner towards others. Based on this, he might show hatred towards the world around him to prevent the world from persecuting him for his true self, but this aspect of the subject might require a full character analysis of the story. By the way, this excerpt is from "The Power of the Dog" by Thomas Savage. Great book! – Amir Baghi Feb 21 '22 at 14:17
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    @Justin Sure, I unaccepted your answer for now. However, please leave your answer here if possible, as the comments on your answer may help others in their own research. – Amir Baghi Feb 21 '22 at 14:23
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    "Justin I agree, but neither do I see a justification for using 'should' here to mean 'he ... loathed the world because it first loathed him'. I'm fairly sure tchrist posted even more senses of one of the modals should/would here somewhere. I'll have a dig. – Edwin Ashworth Feb 21 '22 at 14:35
  • @EdwinAshworth: I think this is an example of should with inversion. Here, should is semantically equal to if. For example, "Should you wish to cancel your order [...]" is the same as "If you should wish to cancel your order [...]". So, "he had loathed the world, should it loathe him first." would be the same as "he had loathed the world, if the world should loathe him first." – Justin Feb 21 '22 at 15:39
  • I would interpret this as an actual example of subjunctive. "[He] had loathed the world, should it loathe him first" could be paraphrased unsubjunctively as "He would have loathed the world if it would have loathed him first." – Robusto Feb 21 '22 at 16:23
  • @Robusto The trouble with the example is that he already knows he's a pariah. 'I know the world loathes me, but if it turns out that the world loathes me, I will loathe it.' ??? – Edwin Ashworth Feb 21 '22 at 19:25
  • @EdwinAshworth: Which is another unsubjunctive way of saying what he did say, which fits perfectly into what appears to me to be a subjunctive construction. – Robusto Feb 21 '22 at 19:56
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    @Justin Upon further searching and digging, I did not find anything, other than the sense I mentioned, which clearly states that 'should' can be used in the sense of 'lest'. Therefore, I believe your answer is the most accurate one from a structural and evidential aspect so far, and I will mark it as the answer again for now. – Amir Baghi Feb 22 '22 at 11:30