Wu Ting
How would you interpret ‘buttoned’ here? In the dining room, visible through the archway, Sister Violet’s lip remained buttoned but her eyebrows nearly reached her widow’s peak by the time she finished filing the day’s mail. How would you interpret ‘buttoned’ in the sentence: Sister Violet’s lip remained buttoned…? Is it possible that it means ‘buttoned-up smile’? I think so, because in the previous part, there is a sentence describing Sister Violet: And today here she is, dispatching the mess with carbon paper and a buttoned-up smile. Thanks! And it’s from The Lacuna by Kingsolver.
Jan 27, 2015 1:38 PM
Answers · 2
"A buttoned lip" means lips that are closed firmly here. She has this look because she is concentrating on the task at hand, probably because she is dissatisfied with someone, here probably the person who made the mess. "My lips are buttoned" can mean that you are promising to keep a secret, but that doesn't apply here.
January 27, 2015
The meaning of "buttoned" in this context means her lips remained closed. -Jen
January 27, 2015
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