Literary notes about Comrade (AI summary)
In literature, the word comrade is often employed to evoke a strong sense of shared purpose, loyalty, and fellowship among characters, whether in the midst of battle or in everyday exchanges. It appears in contexts ranging from strategic admonitions among soldiers—illustrated by advice to a wartime companion [1]—to the affectionate banter of friends casually interacting in domestic settings [2]. Its use spans eras and genres, from epic invocations of valor in classical texts such as Homer's accounts [3, 4] to more nuanced portrayals of camaraderie in social and political conflicts [5, 6]. At times, comrade transcends its martial connotations to denote a bond of mutual respect and even tenderness, as seen in narratives emphasizing personal sacrifice and shared grief [7, 8]. Thus, across a diverse literary spectrum, comrade remains a powerful term encapsulating both solidarity and the deeply human need for connection.
- Suvorov said well: ‘Remember, comrade Rykov, never to attack the Poles without cannon!’
— from Pan Tadeusz; or, The last foray in Lithuania by Adam Mickiewicz - ,” said the comrade, who walked across the room, knelt down, raised one of the rearward hearth-stones and took out a bag that jingled pleasantly.
— from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Complete by Mark Twain - Pelagon, his friend and comrade, drew the spear out of his thigh, but Sarpedon fainted and a mist came over his eyes.
— from The Iliad by Homer - Though men forget their dead when once they are within the house of Hades, yet not even there will I forget the comrade whom I have lost.
— from The Iliad by Homer - Eight days before the capitulation of Paris he had just exchanged with a comrade and entered the cavalry.
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo - “But if you won’t accept money from me like a comrade, you will offend me.
— from War and Peace by graf Leo Tolstoy - It was small wonder if the maid were taken with the picture we presented, of a poor, sick, overwrought lad and his most tender comrade.
— from Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson - The fate of their comrade hung over them with a steadily increasing weight of oppression that finally became insupportable.
— from The Wendigo by Algernon Blackwood