meaning of "we"

[hela]

Dear teachers,

Would you please tell me why the protagonist has chosen the pronoun "we" to speak about himself? What does this "we" mean exactly? I would be grateful if I could have an answer shortly.

The Light that Failed by R. Kippling

« How could it have come without any warning? It’s as sudden as being shot. It’s the living death, Binkie. We’re to be shut up in the dark in one year if we’re careful, and we shan’t see anybody, and we shall never have anything we want, no, though we live to be a hundred.” Binkie wagged his tail joyously. “Binkie, we must think. Let’s see how it fells to be blind.”

All the best,
Hela

[rewboss]

The protagonist is speaking to his dog, Binkie. He is talking not just about himself, but about Binkie, too.

[hela]

Yes, but the dog is not going to get blind, is it?

[Johan[@CLT]]

Things "the living death", "one year in the dark" ... may bring that this character is getting scared by this situation. So, "we" can be used just for the idea of not being alone out there, it can be a good thing when you are trying getting a grip That's my opinion.

I don't think blinkie will turn "blind", because the character says "let's see how it feels to be blind" The character is going to have an idea what it is like to be blind, without losing his sight.

btw; The sentence "let's see how it feels to be blind" might be another example of the use of "we". "Let's" = Let us, that is used more common by native speakers themselves. But it shows that they tend to use a plural form even when they talk to themselves I think we all do that, we might not say it that often, but to my mind we think in that way.

Kind Regards

[Casiopea]

Additionally, could it be that Kippling's use of "we" starts out with reference to his dog, then changes reference to you (the readers, all of us) and me, thereby serving to draw the readers in; i.e., make the readers more aware, more present, more emphathetic, as if they too are meant to consider and experience the same thoughts and feelings?