What are the meanings of these 2 sentences?

Status
Not open for further replies.

thincat

Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2012
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Hong Kong
Current Location
Hong Kong
Hi!
I have some difficulties regarding the understanding of the following 2 sentences in a passage. I hope someone can help me with these:

“We have all kinds of aggressive impulses, and also creative impulses, which society forbids us to indulge, and the alternatives that it supplies in the shape of football matches and all-in wrestling are hardly adequate. Anyone who hopes that in time it may be possible to abolish war should give serious thought to the problem of satisfying harmlessly the instincts that we inherit from long generations of savages.”

My questions are:
1. Does “it” in the first sentence refer to the society? My understanding towards the first sentence is that football matches and wrestling provided by our society are not enough to suffice our aggressive impulses and creative impulses. Am I right?
2. Regarding the second sentence, does “in time” forms a phrase meaning “eventually” or “not late”? What does “long generations of savages” mean? Is "savages" a plural noun meaning cruel people? Does it mean that humans had been savages for a number of long generations in the past?

I would appreciate it if you could tell me your understanding of these 2 sentences by simpler English.

Thank you very much! :)
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
Hi!
I have some difficulties regarding the understanding of the following 2 sentences in a passage. I hope someone can help me with these:

“We have all kinds of aggressive impulses, and also creative impulses, which society forbids us to indulge, and the alternatives that it supplies in the shape of football matches and all-in wrestling are hardly adequate. Anyone who hopes that in time it may be possible to abolish war should give serious thought to the problem of satisfying harmlessly the instincts that we inherit from long generations of savages.”

My questions are:
1. Does “it” in the first sentence refer to [STRIKE]the[/STRIKE] society? My understanding towards the first sentence is that football matches and wrestling provided by our society are not enough to suffice our aggressive impulses and creative impulses. Am I right?
Yes.

2. Regarding the second sentence, does “in time” forms a phrase meaning “eventually” or “not late”? "Eventually" or "within an unspecified period of time".

What does “long generations of savages” mean? Is "savages" a plural noun meaning cruel people? Yes. "Savage" can be a noun.

Does it mean that humans had been savages for a number of long generations in the past? It doesn't mean that all humans in the past were savages. It simply means that savages have existed for many generations.

I would appreciate it if you could tell me your understanding of these 2 sentences by simpler English.

Thank you very much! :)

See above.
 

SoothingDave

VIP Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2009
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
I think it does indeed mean that if you go back in time far enough, we were all savages.
 

thincat

Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2012
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Hong Kong
Current Location
Hong Kong
Thank you for all your replies. Therefore, does the 2nd sentence, "Anyone who hopes that in time it may be possible to abolish war should give serious thought to the problem of satisfying harmlessly the instincts that we inherit from long generations of savages," carry the meaning that long time ago, humans had been savages for long generations, and the instincts of savage has been passed to us?
I mean "long generations of savages" is regarded as one noun phrase, meaning being savages for a long generations or a long period of time.
 

Tdol

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Staff member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
Japan
Human beings have been savages for many generations and we have inherited this characteristic.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top