The little guy's face was a bloody mess. Between the puffballs of blue-black flesh that used to be eyelids, the dull gleam of shock-deadened pupils watched Dilwick uncomprehendingly. His lips were swollen things of lacerated skin, with slow trickles of blood making crooked paths from the corners of his mouth through the stubble of a beard to his chin, dripping onto a stained shirt. Dilwick stood just outside the glare of the lamp, dangling like the Sword of Damocles over the guy's head. He was sweating too. His shirt clung to the meaty expanse of his huge neck. He pushed his beefy hand further into the leather glove and swung. The solid smack of his open hand on the little guy's jaw was nasty. His chair went over backward and his head cracked against the concrete floor of the room like a ripe melon. Dilwick put his hands on his hips and glared down at the caricature that once was human.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Dilwick brutally beats a badly injured man, describing the violence in graphic detail.
- In plain terms
- Dilwick violently attacks a badly hurt man.
- What can you take from it?
- Extreme violence can be portrayed with stark realism.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What purpose does graphic detail serve in storytelling?
- How does brutality affect reader empathy?
Another view
Graphic gore may be excessive for some readers.
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