[Grammar] Passengers still slept

[constantinusphilo]

This is a paragraph from The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles:

Beyond that the people and animals disappeared into darkness. The bus stopped with a jolt and the driver got out abruptly and walked away with the air of wishing to have nothing further to do with it. Passengers still slept, or yawned and began looking about for their belongings, most of which were no longer in the places where they had put them the night before.

I think he should have used 'the passengers' instead of just 'passengers', because it is situationally determined.

 

[jutfrank]

I'll respectfully point out that you've made two major errors with your post. The first is that you haven't clearly asked a question, and the second is that by using the word 'should', you've given an opinion that you're not in a position to make. Please bear this in mind in future posts. We'll assume that you meant to say that you think the writer 'could' have used the passengers instead of just passengers, and that you're asking why he didn't.

In answer to the question, I'll guess that the idea may be to suggest that only some passengers still slept. With the, we would imagine all of them doing it. However, as I think you may have noticed, the following part which reads ... or yawned and reached for their belongings seems to cover the entire group of passengers, not just some.

 

[Tarheel]

This is a paragraph from The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles:

Beyond that the people and animals disappeared into darkness. The bus stopped with a jolt and the driver got out abruptly and walked away with an air of wishing to have nothing further to do with it. Passengers still slept, or yawned and began looking about for their belongings, most of which were no longer in the places where they had put them the night before. I think he should have used 'the passengers' instead of just 'passengers', because it is situationally determined.

That would be OK. Or it could be left as it is.

 

[GoesStation]

I think he should have used 'the passengers' instead of just 'passengers' ….

This means you think you, a learner, know better than the native speaker and professional writer who wrote the passage. I'm sure that's not what you meant.

 

[jutfrank]

This means you think you, a learner, know better than the native speaker and professional writer who wrote the passage. I'm sure that's not what you meant.

Quite. And all the professional and highly competent editors and proofreaders that were involved in the publishing process.

 

[probus]

Paul Bowles was a very successful professional writer. It's pretty bold of us to question his style, tantamount in my view to trying to improve Hemingway.

 

[probus]

While I feel that this forum is not the right place for discussion of literary style I don't like the idea that the style of any writer is above questioning.

Well, my fishy amigo, here is a friendly challenge. I think that in literary style Hemingway is peerless. So take any passage from Hemingway's fiction and rewrite it better than old Papa.;-)

 

[Rover_KE]

Topic drift.

Thread closed.

 

[probus]

Omission of the definite article leaves open the possibility that there were some passengers who neither slept on nor had belongings to retrieve and therefore disembarked smartly and went about their business. It is quite possible that was Bowles' intent.