M&D, p. 8: "imbecile"

[William Danielson]

Hello all,

New to the list, apologies if someone's already commented on this.  On page
8 of M&D, Rev. C., in confessing that he's an unreliable narrator, compares
himself to a shipwreck: "stoven, dismasted, imbecile with age."  By
"imbecile," he literally means that age has made him stupid and forgetful,
but I got curious and looked up "imbecile."  It comes from the Latin
"imbecillus," meaning "without a supporting staff" (OED).  So just as the
wrecked ship of his person is "dismasted," it is also "without a staff."  A
neat hidden extension of the metaphor.

Bill
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