“Half-past eleven,” Ron muttered at last, “we’d better go.”
They pulled on their bathrobes, picked up their wands, and crept
across the tower room, down the spiral staircase, and into the
Gryffindor common room. A few embers were still glowing in the
fireplace, turning all the armchairs into hunched black shadows.
(Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone)Why is there ‘shadow’ instead of silhouette or contour?
Answer
To me, “silhouette” implies a (relatively) brightly-lit background. To put it another way, “silhouette” emphasizes the contrast between the object and its background. If the whole room is dark and all you see is darker lumps where the couches are, then “shadows” is a better word.
“Contour” refers specifically to the outline or edge of something, especially a curved something. If a room is dark, chances are you can’t see edges well enough to talk about contours.
Attribution
Source : Link , Question Author : Listenever , Answer Author : Martha
