The men on the expedition felt overwhelmed by their most ancient
memories in that paradise of dampness and silence, going back to
before original sin, as their boots sank into pools of steaming oil
and their machetes destroyed bloody lilies and golden salamanders.
(One Hundred Years of Solitude, tr. by Gregory Rabassa)Does the bold phrase modify previous NP or denote the result of previous action?
Answer
It’s an ordinary modifier.
According to the Biblical myth, Adam was created sinless in Paradise, the Garden of Eden, from which he was banished for eating the forbidden fruit. In Christian theology Adam’s fall from grace caused all his descendants to be born in a state of original sinfulness, derived not from their actions but from their fallen state.
It is thus paradise which “goes back before original sin” and evokes the travelers’ “most ancient memories” of the fall and exile.
Attribution
Source : Link , Question Author : Listenever , Answer Author : StoneyB on hiatus
