That of her daughter cowered

[Maybo]

Her dying image was that of her daughter cowered in the corner between the toilet and the shower, eyes wide and fixed, mouth hanging agape, frozen in a scream caused by God knows what.

Source: Mean Spirited by (Roberts, Nick)

Does “that of” mean “image of”?
Why was “cowered” instead of “cowering”?

 

[Tarheel]

Her dying image was that of her daughter cowered in the corner between the toilet and the shower, eyes wide and fixed, mouth hanging agape, frozen in a scream caused by God knows what.

Source: Mean Spirited by (Roberts, Nick)

Does “that of” mean “image of”?
WHY DOES THE WRITER USE “cowered” instead of “cowering”?

The word "image" refers to "that". It does, in a sense, answer an unasked question. What image? The image of her daughter.... The image she sees is that of her daughter.

I don't know why the writer uses "cowered" there. In my humble opinion it's the wrong word and should be "cowering".

 

[teechar]

Does “that of” mean “image of”?

Yes, it does. "That" refers to "image".

Why was “cowered” used instead of “cowering”?

Think of "cowered" as a shortened version of, for example, "when she saw her cowered" or "as she cowered". It's correct, but so would "cowering" be.

 

[Tarheel]

The revised sentence:

Her dying image was that of her daughter as she cowered in the corner....

OK. It makes sense now. But I wouldn't remove "as she" there. That would only confuse the reader. (I still agree with post #2.) The original looks like a test to see if you can figure out what words are missing.

 

[Maybo]

Think of "cowered" as a shortened version of, for example, "when she saw her cowered" or "as she cowered"

What’s the difference between “when she saw her cowered” and “when she saw her cower”?

Is “cowered” in the original a passive voice?

 

[teechar]

What’s the difference between “when she saw her cowered” and “when she saw her cower”?

The former suggests she was already in that position. The latter suggests the mother saw her do the action of cowering.

Is “cowered” in the original a passive voice?

No. It's an adjective, similar to "huddled" or "bent".

 

[jutfrank]

The -ing form of a verb gives the sense that there's an action being performed:

I found her cowering in the corner.

This means she's doing something. She's cowering.

The -ed form gives the sense of a state that something's in, like an adjective as opposed to an active verb:

I found her cowered in the corner.

The word cowered describes the state she's in. In this case it describes her body position.