に in 両親に行ったように反乱軍に跪いてみせた


> 彼はひとたまりもなくかつて両親に行ったように反乱軍に跪いてみせた。

[no real context, only an example sentence for
跪く](http://yourei.jp/%E8%B7%AA%E3%81%8F)

反乱軍に跪く is more obvious, kneeling at/towards 反乱軍.

両親に行った I'm far less certain of.

How should I look at this?




There are multiple にs in your sample sentence, and it's not clear which one
you're asking about, so let's just look at the whole thing.

### Breaking it down

Here's your whole sentence, with furigana added.

> 彼【かれ】はひとたまりもなくかつて両親【りょうしん】に行【おこな】ったように反乱軍【はんらんぐん】に跪{ひざまず}いてみせた。

What is this at its simplest?

We break out the topic marked by the は, and the main verb at the end.

> 彼【かれ】はひとたまりもなくかつて両親【りょうしん】に行【おこな】ったように反乱軍【はんらんぐん】に跪【ひざまず】いてみせた。  
>  彼【かれ】は 跪【ひざまず】いてみせた。  
>  彼【かれ】は ... 跪【ひざまず】いてみせた。  
>  He ... bent the knee.

Okay. So we know that much: this is the core of the statement. The other
pieces are descriptors that tell us more about the scene and context.

Breaking these out, we might parse the sentence like this:

> 彼【かれ】は 跪【ひざまず】いてみせた。  
>  ひとたまりもなく  
>  かつて両親【りょうしん】に行【おこな】ったように  
>  反乱軍【はんらんぐん】に

Let's look at each of these descriptor pieces in turn.

> ひと たまり も なく  
>  one build-up `[EVEN]` not-ly →  
>  without a single pause, without any resistance

This appears to be an idiomatic phrase. On its own, たまり has various meanings
that don't lend themselves to this idiom in any immediately obvious fashion
("a kind of soy sauce", "a hang-out for taxi drivers", etc. ). Looking more at
the underlying verb たまる, we see meanings like "to build up, to accumulate",
and by extension, "to hold out, to hang on", which is more where this idiom
comes from.

> かつて 両親【りょうしん】 に 行【おこな】った よう に  
>  formerly parents `[TO]` performed way `[IN]` →  
>  in the way [he] formerly did to his parents, like he used to do to his
> parents

This has two of the に particles. The first one is on 両親【りょうしん】, and indicates
the direction of the action. The second is on よう, and is the adverbial に. As
the phrase ように, this indicates "in that fashion, in that way, in that manner".

> 反乱軍【はんらんぐん】 に  
>  rebel army `[TO]`

This に is again a directional, indicating toward whom the action was
performed.

* * *

Please comment if the above analysis does not address your question.




There are multiple にs in your sample sentence, and it's not clear which one
you're asking about, so let's just look at the whole thing.

### Breaking it down

Here's your whole sentence, with furigana added.

> 彼【かれ】はひとたまりもなくかつて両親【りょうしん】に行【おこな】ったように反乱軍【はんらんぐん】に跪{ひざまず}いてみせた。

What is this at its simplest?

We break out the topic marked by the は, and the main verb at the end.

> 彼【かれ】はひとたまりもなくかつて両親【りょうしん】に行【おこな】ったように反乱軍【はんらんぐん】に跪【ひざまず】いてみせた。  
>  彼【かれ】は 跪【ひざまず】いてみせた。  
>  彼【かれ】は ... 跪【ひざまず】いてみせた。  
>  He ... bent the knee.

Okay. So we know that much: this is the core of the statement. The other
pieces are descriptors that tell us more about the scene and context.

Breaking these out, we might parse the sentence like this:

> 彼【かれ】は 跪【ひざまず】いてみせた。  
>  ひとたまりもなく  
>  かつて両親【りょうしん】に行【おこな】ったように  
>  反乱軍【はんらんぐん】に

Let's look at each of these descriptor pieces in turn.

> ひと たまり も なく  
>  one build-up `[EVEN]` not-ly →  
>  without a single pause, without any resistance

This appears to be an idiomatic phrase. On its own, たまり has various meanings
that don't lend themselves to this idiom in any immediately obvious fashion
("a kind of soy sauce", "a hang-out for taxi drivers", etc. ). Looking more at
the underlying verb たまる, we see meanings like "to build up, to accumulate",
and by extension, "to hold out, to hang on", which is more where this idiom
comes from.

> かつて 両親【りょうしん】 に 行【おこな】った よう に  
>  formerly parents `[TO]` performed way `[IN]` →  
>  in the way [he] formerly did to his parents, like he used to do to his
> parents

This has two of the に particles. The first one is on 両親【りょうしん】, and indicates
the direction of the action. The second is on よう, and is the adverbial に. As
the phrase ように, this indicates "in that fashion, in that way, in that manner".

> 反乱軍【はんらんぐん】 に  
>  rebel army `[TO]`

This に is again a directional, indicating toward whom the action was
performed.

* * *

Please comment if the above analysis does not address your question.

