Can You Explain the Particle Usages For These Sentences Involving 雨の中＿?

Question

I'll preface this with my understanding of particles that I think are relevant in this context.

「を」 - point of departure, or movement through a location.

「に」 - specific point in time, or direction of motion.

「で 」- point of action.

For the motion related verbs (e.g. run, walk). It's seems straightforward.

「雨の中を歩く」"Walk in (through) the rain."

For the verb 「出かける」. Normally it is used with 「に」 to indicate where a person leaves to. e.g. 「買い物に出かける。」

However, the only instances of 出かける being used with 「を」 instead of the usual に is in the phrase: 雨の中を出かける

Which usage of 「を」 is this? It certainly does not mark the point of departure. Maybe it's the second usage? You leave and "go through" the rain? I'm not too sure.

「彼は雨の中を出ていった。」

Similarly, 「を」 is not being used to mark the point of departure in this sentence.

Lastly, the sentences that confused me the most.

「雨の中に長い間立たされた。」

「私は雨の中を１０分も待たされた。」

「客たちは外の雨の中で、数時間待たされた。」

「気がつくと僕は雨の中を公園に立っていた。」

Not only are none of these motion verbs, all 3 particles seem interchangeable? In particular the last one, which uses both 「を」 and 「に」 . I'm very confused as to how these particles were chosen.

Evidently I seem to be ignorant of some grammar that would explain all this. Would very much appreciate an explanation. Thanks!

Answer 1

「雨の中をでかける」
「私は雨の中を１０分も待たされた。」
「気がつくと僕は雨の中を公園に立っていた。」

In these examples, を is used in another sense:

を〘格助詞〙
❸ 動作・作用が行われる周りの状況を表す。
「雨の中を横断歩道を駆け抜ける」
「吹雪の中を捜索を続行する」*
(from 『明鏡国語辞典』)

The を indicates the surrounding situation/circumstance in which an action or event takes place.

_{* The second を in the first example 雨の中を横断歩道を駆け抜ける indicates "movement through a location" (❷ 移動にかかわる場所 in 明鏡). The second を in the second example 吹雪の中を捜索を続行する indicates the object of a transitive verb (❶ 動作・作用の対象).}

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「雨の中に長い間立たされた。」
「私は雨の中を１０分も待たされた。」
「客たちは外の雨の中で、数時間待たされた。」
「気がつくと僕は雨の中を公園に立っていた。」

Either で or を would be fine in your examples. So you could rewrite them as:

「雨の中を/で長い間立たされた。」
「私は雨の中で１０分も待たされた。」
「客たちは外の雨の中を、数時間待たされた。」
「気がつくと僕は雨の中で公園に立っていた。」

The を indicates 動作が行われる周りの状況 (surrounding situation where an action takes place).
The で indicates 動作の行われる場所や場面 (location or scene where an action takes place).

_{に is used in the first example since you can say [場所/場面]+に立たせる. In the fourth example, 雨の中に公園に... would sound a bit unnatural since you don't really say [場所/場面]に+[場所]に立つ.}
　

Answer 2

I guess what you are confusing is interpreting this「を」as "only limited to real/certain/substantial" 'point of departure'. The「を」can be "your mental picture/your memory/your image" of 'point of departure'.

So, the sentence:「彼は雨の中を出ていった。」 simply tells the fact : "When it's raining(outside), he left.". It can be "snapshot" and does not specifies that he was actually moving through the boundary of the indoor and the outdoor while it's raining.

Now, in most case「雨の中を出かける」should be interpreted as "they are going/want/need to leave home for somewhere when it's raining." It depends on the verb if you are describing what you are actually doing in the rain or not.

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「気がつくと僕は雨の中を公園に立っていた。」

This「に」in the sentence probably used in the fiction since it sounds「僕」was left alone in the park using「に」. If you replace「に」with「で」, you are reporting that you were standing in the park while it's raining.

I think without「を」in the sentence sounds still good if you do not have to emphasize「雨の中」and the fact:「公園に立っていた。」is more important.