ripped out of the ground

[Selviya87]

Dear teachers,


I'm lately read a novel from Shea Berkley, The Marked Son, and found this idiom. Actually I'm not sure enough it is an idiom or not, but I hope you still want to help me understand it. :) Here is the context:



Lately, I’m feeling desperate in a way I’ve never felt before, like I’ve been ripped out of the ground one too many times, and the next time will kill me.


Thank you very much for your help :)

[bhaisahab]

Dear teachers,


I'm lately read a novel from Shea Berkley, The Marked Son, and found this idiom. Actually I'm not sure enough it is an idiom or not, but I hope you still want to help me understand it. :) Here is the context:



Lately, I’m feeling desperate in a way I’ve never felt before, like I’ve been ripped out of the ground one too many times, and the next time will kill me.


Thank you very much for your help :)

No, it's not an idiom.

[Selviya87]

Oh, okay.. Thank you then :)

[RobMasters]

Dear teachers,


I'm lately read a novel from Shea Berkley, The Marked Son, and found this idiom. Actually I'm not sure enough it is an idiom or not, but I hope you still want to help me understand it. :) Here is the context:



Lately, I’m feeling desperate in a way I’ve never felt before, like I’ve been ripped out of the ground one too many times, and the next time will kill me.


Thank you very much for your help :)

Never mind some of these comments - they are busy people.

The analogy is with a plant. You can pull a plant out of the ground and plant it again and it will grow. You can abuse this plant and it will probably survive. Even if you rip it out of the ground it will probably manage to cling on and gain a footing and then continue to grow.

But there's a limit as to how many times you can do this. The day will come when the plant can't take any more. You can't keep ripping it up and keep expecting it to survive.

It's a simple and powerful analogy - poignant in its simplicity.

As in "I'm at the end of my tether. I've been messed with and abused so much that I can't take much more. It's like I've been ripped out of the ground so many times that this time is just one time too much and I won't be able to survive it."

But the original is far more powerful in its poetry - that's what poetry is about - the conjuring of feelings with words, and the simpler and more direct the better.

Hope that helps.

(I don't know Shea Berkley. I'm going to read him . . . thank you.)

R

ps - I've only been on this site a few days but it's great to find someone who's seeking enlightenment rather than technicalities . . .