The Amateur Cracksman
question
Sinking the Commander in the leader.
Del
Dec 18, 2013 03:23PM
Just started reading this and I was unable to work out exactly what this idiom means. I've Googled to no avail.
From the book;
The measured step had passed without a pause. Raffles drew a deep breath, and his singular grip of me slowly relaxed. "But still, not a sound," he continued in the same whisper; "we'll take a rise out of him, wherever he is! Slip off your shoes and follow me." Well, you may wonder at my doing so; but you can never have met A. J. Raffles. Half his power lay in a conciliating trick of sinking the commander in the leader. And it was impossible not to follow one who led with such a zest. You might question, but you followed first.
Hornung, E. W. (Ernest William) (2012-05-12). The Amateur Cracksman (pp. 20-21). . Kindle Edition.
From the book;
The measured step had passed without a pause. Raffles drew a deep breath, and his singular grip of me slowly relaxed. "But still, not a sound," he continued in the same whisper; "we'll take a rise out of him, wherever he is! Slip off your shoes and follow me." Well, you may wonder at my doing so; but you can never have met A. J. Raffles. Half his power lay in a conciliating trick of sinking the commander in the leader. And it was impossible not to follow one who led with such a zest. You might question, but you followed first.
Hornung, E. W. (Ernest William) (2012-05-12). The Amateur Cracksman (pp. 20-21). . Kindle Edition.
I don't think it is particularly idiomatic. I take the meaning to be that one does what Raffles tells you to, without questions,just as one obeys a superior officer (i.e. a commander), because at the crucial points he does not delegate, but leads the way, himself taking the greatest risk.
The difference between a commander and a leader is that the leader only tells someone to do something that he himself does.
Bunny is explaining that he lets Raffles behave as his commander and tell him what to do because the attitude is outweighed and hidden ("sunk") by the fact that Raffles' actions are those of a leader - he takes the greatest risks himself. He behaves as both commander and leader and (for Bunny) the latter characteristic outweighs, and justifies, the former.
The difference between a commander and a leader is that the leader only tells someone to do something that he himself does.
Bunny is explaining that he lets Raffles behave as his commander and tell him what to do because the attitude is outweighed and hidden ("sunk") by the fact that Raffles' actions are those of a leader - he takes the greatest risks himself. He behaves as both commander and leader and (for Bunny) the latter characteristic outweighs, and justifies, the former.
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