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I encountered the sentence, "our hands would be forced", but am finding it difficult to understand it. Could you please let me know what it means? Here is the excerpt:
He decided, therefore, to form a small and very secret committee, consisting of Mrs. Stevens and himself. Their duty was to thoroughly explore the whole matter and assure themselves that everything could be done in time. Then, but only then, was the news to be announced to the children.
“If we tell them now,” he said, “we shall simply be carried away by public opinion—our hands would be forced: they would never see reason—even if we found that we could not possibly alter our plans in time.”
- R. C. Sherriff, The Fortnight in September, Chapter 30
This is a novel published in 1931, which describes a fortnight in September in which an English family consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Stevens, Mary, Dick, and Ernie go on a holiday. Towards the end of the holiday, they are suggested by Mrs. Huggett, the landlady, to stay for another day as a gift from her. So Mr. Stevens decides to form a secret committee consisting of himself and Mrs. Stevens to make sure every alteration in their plan could be managed before revealing this news to their children.
Here, I wonder what this underlined part means.
What would it mean that their "hands" are "forced"...? I vaguely guess that they would be swayed by the public opinion, but I am not sure what exactly it means.
He decided, therefore, to form a small and very secret committee, consisting of Mrs. Stevens and himself. Their duty was to thoroughly explore the whole matter and assure themselves that everything could be done in time. Then, but only then, was the news to be announced to the children.
“If we tell them now,” he said, “we shall simply be carried away by public opinion—our hands would be forced: they would never see reason—even if we found that we could not possibly alter our plans in time.”
- R. C. Sherriff, The Fortnight in September, Chapter 30
This is a novel published in 1931, which describes a fortnight in September in which an English family consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Stevens, Mary, Dick, and Ernie go on a holiday. Towards the end of the holiday, they are suggested by Mrs. Huggett, the landlady, to stay for another day as a gift from her. So Mr. Stevens decides to form a secret committee consisting of himself and Mrs. Stevens to make sure every alteration in their plan could be managed before revealing this news to their children.
Here, I wonder what this underlined part means.
What would it mean that their "hands" are "forced"...? I vaguely guess that they would be swayed by the public opinion, but I am not sure what exactly it means.