He often clenches his fists, and puts
one or both arms in the proper position for attack or defence,
with the muscles of his limbs rigid. He frowns,--that is,
he contracts and lowers his brows,--and, being determined,
closes his mouth. The actions and attitude of a helpless man are,
in every one of these respects, exactly the reverse. In Plate VI.
we may imagine one of the figures on the left side to have just said,
"What do you mean by insulting me?" and one of the figures
on the right side to answer, "I really could not help it."
The helpless man unconsciously contracts the muscles of his
forehead which are antagonistic to those that cause a frown,
and thus raises his eyebrows; at the same time he relaxes
the muscles about the mouth, so that the lower jaw drops.
The antithesis is complete in every detail, not only in the movements
of the features, but in the position of the limbs and in the attitude
of the whole body, as may be seen in the accompanying plate.
As the helpless or apologetic man often wishes to show his state
of mind, he then acts in a conspicuous or demonstrative manner.
In accordance with the fact that squaring the elbows and clenching
the fists are gestures by no means universal with the men of all races,
when they feel indignant and are prepared to attack their enemy,
so it appears that a helpless or apologetic frame of mind is expressed
in many parts of the world by merely shrugging the shoulders,
without turning inwards the elbows and opening the hands.
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