--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Just what did happen to a corpse under…" description: "\"“Just what did happen to a corpse under water for four, five years, even three? the tarpaulin or canvas would rot, perhaps more than half of it would d..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee2/patricia-highsmith-3982_five-years_just-what-did-happen-to-a-corpse-under-w_1974277.jpg" --- # Just what did happen to a corpse under water for four… ![“Just what did happen to a corpse under water for four, five years, even three? the tarpaulin or canvas would rot, perhaps more than half of it would disappear; the stones would likely have fallen out, therefore, enabling the corpse to drift more easily, even rise a little, provided any flesh was…” quote by Patricia Highsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee2/patricia-highsmith-3982_five-years_just-what-did-happen-to-a-corpse-under-w_1974277.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee2/patricia-highsmith-3982_five-years_just-what-did-happen-to-a-corpse-under-w_1974277.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee2/patricia-highsmith-3982_five-years_just-what-did-happen-to-a-corpse-under-w_1974277.jpg) > ““Just what did happen to a corpse under water for four, five years, even three? the tarpaulin or canvas would rot, perhaps more than half of it would disappear; the stones would likely have fallen out, therefore, enabling the corpse to drift more easily, even rise a little, provided any flesh was left. But wasn't rising due to bloating? Tom thought of the word maceration, the flaking off in layers of the outer skin. Then what? The nibbling of fish? Or wouldn't the current have removed pieces of flesh until nothing but bones were left? The bloated period must be long past...”” [Patricia Highsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-highsmith/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage describes the decomposition of a submerged body, noting how water, rot, and marine activity break down tissues, leaving only bones over time. **In simple terms:** Bodies in water decompose, leaving bones after months or years. Key Takeaway Consider the natural processes of decay. Themes death decomposition marine environment Mood eerie clinical inquisitive Type descriptive forensic literary When to use this quote - crime scene investigation - marine archaeology - education on decay - writing horror scenes Key Concepts biology forensic science entropy Questions to Reflect On - How does environment influence decomposition? - What ethical limits exist when describing graphic decay? A Different Perspective The description may overlook variations in temperature, depth, and scavenger activity that affect decay rates. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [“Oh, for heaven's sake, Harper, I didn't just pee on the floor. My water broke.' 'What water?' He blinked, then went pale as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-roberts/oh-for-heaven-s-sake-harper-i-didn-t-just-pee-on-the-floor-my-water/) [Nora Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-roberts/) > [“Not a lot of flesh was left on my bones. This flesh sufficed only for malice, the last human feeling to go. Not indifference…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/varlam-shalamov/not-a-lot-of-flesh-was-left-on-my-bones-this-flesh-sufficed-only-for/) [Varlam Shalamov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/varlam-shalamov/) > [“I’ve heard that sometimes a version of you must die before another more enlightened version can be born. I think that’s true after watching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-flygare/i-ve-heard-that-sometimes-a-version-of-you-must-die-before-another/) [Julie Flygare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-flygare/) > [“Now, feel free to call me what I am-call me a corpse, call me dead, call me a killer if you want. I've killed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lia-habel/now-feel-free-to-call-me-what-i-am-call-me-a-corpse-call-me-dead-call/) [Lia Habel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lia-habel/) > [“Bagpipe Music' It's no go the merrygoround, it's no go the rickshaw, All we want is a limousine and a ticket for the peepshow.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-macneice/bagpipe-music-it-s-no-go-the-merrygoround-it-s-no-go-the-rickshaw-all/) [Louis MacNeice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-macneice/) > [Well, my friend, this earth will one day be that cold corpse; it will become uninhabitable and uninhabited like the moon, which has long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-verne/well-my-friend-this-earth-will-one-day-be-that-cold-corpse-it-will/) [Jules Verne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-verne/) > [Alas, poor Yorick! How surprised he would be to see how his counterpart of today is whisked off to a funeral parlor and is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-mitford/alas-poor-yorick-how-surprised-he-would-be-to-see-how-his-counterpart/) [Jessica Mitford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-mitford/) > [“You and I are victims of the same disease. We're fighting the same war, just different battles in different theaters, and it's way too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-marion/you-and-i-are-victims-of-the-same-disease-we-re-fighting-the-same-war/) [Isaac Marion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-marion/) > [I never change, I'm like a corpse in a coffin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-cole/i-never-change-i-m-like-a-corpse-in-a-coffin/) [J Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-cole/) > [The government increasingly resembles somebody who is trying to give the kiss of life to a corpse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vince-cable/the-government-increasingly-resembles-somebody-who-is-trying-to-give/) [Vince Cable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vince-cable/) > [“She was dry, dry inside like a ten-thousand-year-old tomb, with the last of her life barely dampening the dirt underneath.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kat-rosenfield/she-was-dry-dry-inside-like-a-ten-thousand-year-old-tomb-with-the/) [Kat Rosenfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kat-rosenfield/) > [“such is their image of man’s nature: the battleground of a struggle between a corpse and a ghost,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/such-is-their-image-of-man-s-nature-the-battleground-of-a-struggle/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [ René of Anjou \[(1409-80)\] painted a picture of his mistress's corpse as he found it eaten by worms on having it \[her tomb\] openedon… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-walpole/ren-of-anjou-1409-80-painted-a-picture-of-his-mistress-s-corpse-as-he/) [Horace Walpole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-walpole/) > [“So I should not hate Adolin Kholin for wielding a corpse!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandon-sanderson/so-i-should-not-hate-adolin-kholin-for-wielding-a-corpse/) [Brandon Sanderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandon-sanderson/) > [“WORDS ARE TEETH. AND THEY EAT ME ALIVE. FEED ON MY CORPSE INSTEAD.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-giles/words-are-teeth-and-they-eat-me-alive-feed-on-my-corpse-instead/) [Gail Giles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-giles/) ## More by Patricia Highsmith > [“Thinking no more about it, he stepped off into that cool space, that fast descent to her, with nothing in his mind but a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-highsmith/thinking-no-more-about-it-he-stepped-off-into-that-cool-space-that/) [Patricia Highsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-highsmith/) > [I didn't hang around films. I don't know if I'd ever seen Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-highsmith/i-didn-t-hang-around-films-i-don-t-know-if-i-d-ever-seen-hitchcock-s/) [Patricia Highsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-highsmith/) > [“I feel I stand in a desert with my hands outstretched, and you are raining down upon me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-highsmith/i-feel-i-stand-in-a-desert-with-my-hands-outstretched-and-you-are/) [Patricia Highsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-highsmith/) > [One situation – maybe one alone – could drive me to murder: family life, togetherness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-highsmith/one-situation-maybe-one-alone-could-drive-me-to-murder-family-life/) [Patricia Highsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-highsmith/) > [“He felt he was about to experience again some ancient, delicious childhood moment that the steam calliope's sour hollowness, the stitching hurdy-gurdy accompaniment, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-highsmith/he-felt-he-was-about-to-experience-again-some-ancient-delicious/) [Patricia Highsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-highsmith/) > [“It was a kind of arrogance, perhaps, to believe so in one's destiny. But, on the other hand, who could be more genuinely humble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-highsmith/it-was-a-kind-of-arrogance-perhaps-to-believe-so-in-one-s-destiny-but/) [Patricia Highsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-highsmith/) > [I should love to do a novel, about one abnormal character seeing present-day life, very ordinary life, yet arresting through it, abnormality, until at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-highsmith/i-should-love-to-do-a-novel-about-one-abnormal-character-seeing/) [Patricia Highsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-highsmith/) > [I don't set the alarm to get up. I get up when I feel like it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-highsmith/i-don-t-set-the-alarm-to-get-up-i-get-up-when-i-feel-like-it/) [Patricia Highsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-highsmith/) > [“Dusk was falling quickly. It was just after 7 P.M., and the month was October.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-highsmith/dusk-was-falling-quickly-it-was-just-after-7-p-m-and-the-month-was/) [Patricia Highsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-highsmith/) > [“What chance combination of shadow and sound and his own thoughts had created it?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-highsmith/what-chance-combination-of-shadow-and-sound-and-his-own-thoughts-had/) [Patricia Highsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-highsmith/) > [“Happiness was like a green vine spreading through her, stretching fine tendrils, bearing flowers through her flesh. She had a vision of a pale-white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-highsmith/happiness-was-like-a-green-vine-spreading-through-her-stretching-fine/) [Patricia Highsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-highsmith/) > [“That's exactly where you're wrong! Any kind of person can murder. Purely circumstances and not a thing to do with temperament! People get so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-highsmith/that-s-exactly-where-you-re-wrong-any-kind-of-person-can-murder/) [Patricia Highsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-highsmith/) > [What was it to love someone, what was love exactly, and why did it end or not end? Those were the real questions, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-highsmith/what-was-it-to-love-someone-what-was-love-exactly-and-why-did-it-end/) [Patricia Highsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-highsmith/) > [It always gets late with you. - Is that a compliment?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-highsmith/it-always-gets-late-with-you-is-that-a-compliment/) [Patricia Highsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-highsmith/) > [“Writing is a craft and needs constant practice.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-highsmith/writing-is-a-craft-and-needs-constant-practice/) [Patricia Highsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-highsmith/) [Explore all 115 Patricia Highsmith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-highsmith/) ## More Corpse quotes > [“WORDS ARE TEETH. AND THEY EAT ME ALIVE. FEED ON MY CORPSE INSTEAD.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-giles/words-are-teeth-and-they-eat-me-alive-feed-on-my-corpse-instead/) [Gail Giles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-giles/) > [“So I should not hate Adolin Kholin for wielding a corpse!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandon-sanderson/so-i-should-not-hate-adolin-kholin-for-wielding-a-corpse/) [Brandon Sanderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandon-sanderson/) > [ René of Anjou \[(1409-80)\] painted a picture of his mistress's corpse as he found it eaten by worms on having it \[her tomb\] openedon… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-walpole/ren-of-anjou-1409-80-painted-a-picture-of-his-mistress-s-corpse-as-he/) [Horace Walpole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-walpole/) > [“such is their image of man’s nature: the battleground of a struggle between a corpse and a ghost,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/such-is-their-image-of-man-s-nature-the-battleground-of-a-struggle/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“She was dry, dry inside like a ten-thousand-year-old tomb, with the last of her life barely dampening the dirt underneath.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kat-rosenfield/she-was-dry-dry-inside-like-a-ten-thousand-year-old-tomb-with-the/) [Kat Rosenfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kat-rosenfield/) > [The government increasingly resembles somebody who is trying to give the kiss of life to a corpse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vince-cable/the-government-increasingly-resembles-somebody-who-is-trying-to-give/) [Vince Cable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vince-cable/) > [I never change, I'm like a corpse in a coffin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-cole/i-never-change-i-m-like-a-corpse-in-a-coffin/) [J Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-cole/) > [“You and I are victims of the same disease. We're fighting the same war, just different battles in different theaters, and it's way too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-marion/you-and-i-are-victims-of-the-same-disease-we-re-fighting-the-same-war/) [Isaac Marion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-marion/) > [Alas, poor Yorick! How surprised he would be to see how his counterpart of today is whisked off to a funeral parlor and is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-mitford/alas-poor-yorick-how-surprised-he-would-be-to-see-how-his-counterpart/) [Jessica Mitford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-mitford/) > [Well, my friend, this earth will one day be that cold corpse; it will become uninhabitable and uninhabited like the moon, which has long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-verne/well-my-friend-this-earth-will-one-day-be-that-cold-corpse-it-will/) [Jules Verne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-verne/) > [“Bagpipe Music' It's no go the merrygoround, it's no go the rickshaw, All we want is a limousine and a ticket for the peepshow.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-macneice/bagpipe-music-it-s-no-go-the-merrygoround-it-s-no-go-the-rickshaw-all/) [Louis MacNeice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-macneice/) > [“Now, feel free to call me what I am-call me a corpse, call me dead, call me a killer if you want. I've killed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lia-habel/now-feel-free-to-call-me-what-i-am-call-me-a-corpse-call-me-dead-call/) [Lia Habel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lia-habel/) > [“I’ve heard that sometimes a version of you must die before another more enlightened version can be born. I think that’s true after watching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-flygare/i-ve-heard-that-sometimes-a-version-of-you-must-die-before-another/) [Julie Flygare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-flygare/) > [“In some warped way, having an embalmed body with us made perfect sense.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahir-shah/in-some-warped-way-having-an-embalmed-body-with-us-made-perfect-sense/) [Tahir Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahir-shah/) > [Memory heaps dead leaves on corpse-like deeds, from under which they do but vaguely offend the sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-galsworthy/memory-heaps-dead-leaves-on-corpse-like-deeds-from-under-which-they/) [John Galsworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-galsworthy/) Browse all 240 Corpse quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Just what did happen to a corpse under water for four, five years, even three? the tarpaulin or canvas would rot, perhaps more than half of it would disappear; the stones would likely have fallen out, therefore, enabling the corpse to drift more easily, even rise a little, provided any flesh was left. 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