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- Feb 13, 2022
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I read this expression, "its limitations", but am finding it difficult to understand it. Could you please let me know what it means? Here is the excerpt:
The presiding judge was exceedingly solicitous, asking the witness how she was feeling, thanking her for appearing before the Court, and assuring her of the value of her testimony. The young woman nodded, but even as the judge extended to her the sympathies of the Court I could see that she had little use for it, she understood all too clearly its limitations, she had not come all this way for the Court’s sympathy but for its promise of justice. The Court already had the witness’s statement in the record, the judge said, detailing how her brothers and her father had been killed. She would now be made available for examination by both parties. The judge paused and then said that she was very sorry to be asking her to revisit the events of that terrible day, events that she knew were profoundly upsetting. The trial by its nature demands more from the victims than it does from the accused, the judge said, which is in and of itself another injustice, and for which I can only express my profound regret. The young woman nodded. The judge then said that she would give the floor to the prosecution.
- Katie Kitamura, Intimacies, Chapter 13
This is a novel published in 2021 in the United States of America. The protagonist is an interpreter working at the International Criminal Court at The Hague. Now she is interpreting in a session where the witness gives her testimony against the accused (the former African president who stands accused of war crimes).
In this part, I am having difficulties in finding out what "its" refers back to.
I originally thought that "its" and the underlined "it" in the previous phrase all refer to "the sympathies", but then I realized that "sympathies" are plural whereas "its" and "it" are singular.
But then, if "it" and "its" refer back to "the Court," I wonder why the witness had little use of the Court.
So I am confused, and wanted to ask you.
The presiding judge was exceedingly solicitous, asking the witness how she was feeling, thanking her for appearing before the Court, and assuring her of the value of her testimony. The young woman nodded, but even as the judge extended to her the sympathies of the Court I could see that she had little use for it, she understood all too clearly its limitations, she had not come all this way for the Court’s sympathy but for its promise of justice. The Court already had the witness’s statement in the record, the judge said, detailing how her brothers and her father had been killed. She would now be made available for examination by both parties. The judge paused and then said that she was very sorry to be asking her to revisit the events of that terrible day, events that she knew were profoundly upsetting. The trial by its nature demands more from the victims than it does from the accused, the judge said, which is in and of itself another injustice, and for which I can only express my profound regret. The young woman nodded. The judge then said that she would give the floor to the prosecution.
- Katie Kitamura, Intimacies, Chapter 13
This is a novel published in 2021 in the United States of America. The protagonist is an interpreter working at the International Criminal Court at The Hague. Now she is interpreting in a session where the witness gives her testimony against the accused (the former African president who stands accused of war crimes).
In this part, I am having difficulties in finding out what "its" refers back to.
I originally thought that "its" and the underlined "it" in the previous phrase all refer to "the sympathies", but then I realized that "sympathies" are plural whereas "its" and "it" are singular.
But then, if "it" and "its" refer back to "the Court," I wonder why the witness had little use of the Court.
So I am confused, and wanted to ask you.