Need some help for a sentence translation

[SylvainG]

Hi everyone,

I'm in first year of master degree of french literature but i'm doing a short story translation as a dissertation. I'm french and i have some great difficulties translating a specific sentence i'll write down here. To give you the minimum elements of context, the main character is hearing his parents quarrel inside the house. He suddenly wants to get away and definitively leave the house.


"still watching the corner, Michael suddenly felt that the twisting and pulling in the life in the house was twisting and choking him".

Morley Callaghan, the runaway.


Thank you very much for your answers.

[ennison]

What is your problem?

[SylvainG]

What is your problem?

I have no idea what is the meaning of "the twisting and pulling". Is it metaphorical ? And the double "in" from "in the life" and "in the house" looks weird to me. Is there an implicit coma ? : in the life, in the house ?

Thk you.

[Ecurb]

Twisting and pulling in the house is metaphorical. Michael's parents argument is compared to a "twisting and pulling in the house". Emotionally, he feels "twisted and choked" by his parents' quarrel. To me, the sentence seems "precious" (over-written and twee).

[SylvainG]

Okey thank you very much, i understand a bit more the context. But could it be approximatively paraphrased ?

Is twisting and pulling more about the fuss inside the house or more about life contingency ?

Thx

[ennison]

I agree with Ecurb. There is no comma needed . The life in the house is the family life. It is dysfunctional to the extent that Michael is feeling physically hurt by it. Metaphoric. "Stressed out" in simple terms