By implication each
word gives an added touch to the picture of hardness and cruelty of the
two brothers. Ruskin finds a dozen different ways of illustrating the
important statement he made in the second sentence (the first sentence
being merely introductory). And at the end of the paragraph we have the
whole summed up in a long sentence full of deliberate rather than
implied contrasts, which culminate in the two words "Black Brothers."
It is easy to see that much of the strength of these two paragraphs lies
in the continued and repeated use of contrast. The first paragraph,
with its beautiful description of the "Golden River" and the
"Treasure Valley," is itself a perfect contrast to the second,
with its "Black Brothers" and all their meanness; and we have already
seen that the second paragraph itself is filled with antitheses.
In these two paragraphs we have but two simple ideas, that of the place
with all its beauty, and that of the brothers with all their ugliness.
Ruskin might have spoken of them in two sentences, or even in one; but
as a matter of fact, in order to make us think long enough about these
two things, he takes them one at a time and gives us glints, like the
reflections from the different facets of a diamond slowly turned about
in the light.
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