meaning - Is ‘beetle-black eyes’ expressing their owner’s character?



Hagrid's real intention, however, was to talk to Harry away from the rest of the class. He waited until everyone else had set off with their skrewts, then turned to Harry and said, very seriously, "So – yer competin', Harry. In the tournament. School champion."


“One of the champions,” Harry corrected him.


Hagrid's beetle-black eyes looked very anxious under his wild eyebrows.


(p294, Harry Potter 4, US edition)



There’s not so many varieties in eye color in people of my country and therefore in novels, except for in figurative expressions. This might be why eye-color descriptions draw my attention.


'Beetle-black eyes', not just black, is sometimes referred in the story as if it is Hagrid's trademark


I searched the Net for beetle-black and had an impression that the color is bright and pure black. Now I'm just wondering it might be connected to Hagrid's character and mentioned when the writer wants to emphasize his pureness. However, this is just a wild guess because I don't know English speaking people commonly connect eye color and people’s character, just like astrology.


I'd like to know if 'beetle-black eyes' is related to Hagrid's character. I'd be happy if you could help me!



Answer



There's no "real" answer to your question—in this case, it's just some art in writing.


It is not a common phrase in spoken English, and there's no particular phrase it brings to mind. Note that in the phrase, the b alliterates (begins both words)—beetle-black. The alliteration is a poetic way of describing something, and alliteration is often seen in literary English.


But I don't think it's a very good phrase. For one, beetles are not particularly black. They are all sorts of colours. Stan mentions that beetles are glossy/shiny, which is true, but when reading that passage, I didn't think of it (I didn't think of it until Stan mentioned it). You might just as well think of beetles as "covered in dust and dirt all the time."


So in summary, no, there is nothing whatsoever you are missing. The phrase would mean everything it means in English, translated to any other language. There is no "background" you're missing. And do not underestimate the power of alliteration, it makes it sound dramatic even if there's nothing to it!


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