but as he plodded along a vague and almost hallucinatory pall hazed over his mind; he found himself at one point, with no notion of how it could be, a step from an almost certain fatal cliffside fall-falling humiliatingly and helplessly, he thought; on and on, with no one even to witness it. Here there existed no one to record his or anyone else's degradation, and any courage or pride which might manifest itself here at the end would go unmarked: the dead stones, the dust-stricken weeds dry and dying, perceived nothing, recollected nothing, about him or themselves.
The character experiences a disorienting and surreal moment as he walks, marked by a sense of impending doom. He finds himself dangerously close to a cliff, reflecting on the humiliation of potentially falling without anyone to see or remember it. This moment emphasizes his isolation and the futility of his existence, as he realizes that even his possible downfall would go unnoticed.
In this bleak landscape, the environment seems indifferent to human suffering and pride. The lifeless stones and wilting weeds symbolize a world devoid of memory or acknowledgment, underscoring the character's feelings of insignificance and the transient nature of human experiences. This suggests a deeper commentary on existence and the lack of meaning in a world that does not care.
