"No need of words": Joseph Conrad's Use of the Typographical Ellipsis in Under Western Eyes and "The Secret Sharer"

"I must be very prudent with him," he warned himself in the silence during which they sat gazing at each other. It lasted some little time, and was characterized (for silences have their character) by a sort of sadness imparted to it perhaps by the mild and thoughtful manner of the bearded official. (Joseph Conrad, Under Western Eyes 86) The word frightened is fatal. It seems as if it had been written withought any thought at all. It takes away all sense of reality - for if you read the sentence in its place on the page You will see that the word frightened (or indeed any word of the sort) is inadequate to express the true state of that man's mind. No word is adequate. The imagination of the reader should be left free to arouse his feeling. © Texas Tech University Press.