[General] as if they had feet of clay themselves

[albert210]

Is the bold part literal or figurative?
Mr. Handler explained about the expression of "feet of clay", but when I reached the bold part I couldn't understand the relation between "sinking to a mound of damp sand" and "having feet of clay".

“You see?” Olaf asked. “While the other islanders have to do all the work, Ishmael sneaks off to the arboretum on his perfectly
healthy feet and eats all the apples for himself! Your beloved facilitator not only has clay on his feet, he has feet of clay!”
The bird cage shook with laughter, and the Baudelaire orphans looked first at the apple core and then at one another. “Feet of clay” is an expression which refers to a person who appears to be honest and true, but who turns out to have a hidden weakness or a treacherous secret. If someone turns out to have feet of clay, your opinion of them may topple, just as a statue will topple if its base turns out to be badly constructed. The Baudelaires had thought Ishmael was wrong to abandon them on the coastal shelf, of course, but they believed he had done it to keep the other islanders out of harm’s way, just as Mrs. Caliban had not wanted Friday to upset herself by learning to read, and although they did not agree with much of the facilitator’s philosophy, they at least respected the fact that he was trying to do the same thing the Baudelaires had been trying to do since that terrible day on the beach when they had first become orphans: to find or build a safe place to call home. But now, looking at the apple core, they realized what Count Olaf said was true. Ishmael had feet of clay. He was lying about his injuries, and he was selfish about the apples in the arboretum, and he was treacherous in pressuring everyone else on the island to do all the work. Gazing at the treacherous teeth marks the facilitator had left behind, they remembered his claim that he predicted the weather by magic, and the strange look in his eye when he insisted that the island had no library, and the Baudelaires wondered what other secrets the bearded facilitator was hiding. Violet, Klaus, and Sunny sank to a mound of damp sand, as if they had feet of clay themselves, and leaned against the cube of books, wondering how they could have traveled so far from the world only to find the same dishonesty and treachery they always had.

"The End," by Daniel Handler

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

The words "as if" tell you it's figurative.

Now, if you're not familiar with the expression "feet of clay," you might like to look it up.

 

[albert210]

Thank you.
I know the meaning of that expression. Even the author explained it himself. But as I said, I cannot understand the relationship between "sinking to a mound of damp sand" and "having feet of clay".
Let me ask it this way: Does it mean "Violet, Klaus, and Sunny sank to a mound of damp sand, as if they had a hidden weakness or a treacherous secret"?
Did I understand it correctly?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Thank you.
I know the meaning of that expression. Even the author explained it himself. But as I said, I cannot understand the relationship between "sinking to a mound of damp sand" and "having feet of clay".

The author is being droll, connecting the figurative with the literal.

Let me ask it this way: Does it mean "Violet, Klaus, and Sunny sank into a mound of damp sand, as if they had a hidden weakness or a treacherous secret"?

Did I understand it correctly?

They don't have feet of clay, of course. But when they sink into the sand, it's as if they have clay on their feet — or wet, sand, anyway.

The writer seems to be beating this feet-of-clay thing to death.