beyond tears/move

[GUEST2008]

Hi

She understood about some misery being beyond tears. In the hospital she had cried a lot, openly; at Barnhurst she
had several times cried in secret. Now she had no tears.
She sat on the kitchen stool in a dry daze of despair for a
long time. Then, at last, resignation and a sort of courage
began to move again. All right.Her memory was still lost ...


Does it mean that she understood that there was no point in crying about some misery?

Does it mean that the resignation and courage got the upper hand over her?

 

[billmcd]

Hi

She understood about some misery being beyond tears. In the hospital she had cried a lot, openly; at Barnhurst she
had several times cried in secret. Now she had no tears.
She sat on the kitchen stool in a dry daze of despair for a
long time. Then, at last, resignation and a sort of courage
began to move again. All right.Her memory was still lost ...


(1) Does it mean that she understood that there was no point in crying about some misery?

(2) Does it mean that the resignation and courage got the upper hand over her?

Given the choices you present, I would choose #1 as the closest in meaning but I would interpret her feeling to be that she began to become resigned to her situation and began to regain her courage.

 

[Mannysteps]

Not a teacher

I had given it the following interpretation and I would thaks any comments on it:

She understood that some misery lingers on long after the tears have dried. In the hospital she had cried a lot, openly; at Barnhurst she had several times cried in secret. Now she had no tears.

She sat on the kitchen stool in a dry daze of despair for a
long time. Then, at last, resignation and a sort of courage
began to lift her spirits. All right.Her memory was still lost .


M.

 

[emsr2d2]

To me, "beyond tears" means that sometimes something is so upsetting that actually it numbs a person to the point where they're not even capable of crying about it. It's something so awful that actually crying about it is not enough.

A lot of people find that when a close relative dies, they actually don't cry. They are numb. Incapable of any emotion. The whole situation is just too overwhelming.

I would say that in the situation in this post, they're saying that she had cried a lot at the hospital and in other situations, but had actually reached a point now where things were so terrible, that crying didn't even begin to be an appropriate response.