In literature, despair is often deployed to underscore protagonists’ emotional crises or the grim fate of environments on the brink of ruin. It appears both as a sudden, overwhelming internal collapse—as when a character’s frustration materializes into a complete loss of hope [1] [2]—and as an enduring condition that casts a pall over entire settings, highlighting decay or stagnation [3] [4]. At times, despair is a transient state that propels dramatic actions, with characters confronting seemingly insurmountable obstacles or resigning themselves to inevitable misfortune [5] [6]. In other works, however, it becomes a counterpoint to hope, illuminating the tension between darkness and the possibility of redemption [7] [8], thus serving as a vital thematic tool that enriches narrative depth and underscores the human condition.