Literary notes about Detachment (AI summary)
In literature, "detachment" carries a dual significance. On one hand, it frequently designates a military unit separated for a specific task—such as a reconnaissance group or a reserve force deployed in critical moments—as seen in narratives where commanders send out detachments to secure positions or engage in defensive maneuvers [1][2][3]. On the other hand, the term also functions metaphorically to reflect an emotional or psychological state of distancing, suggesting an attitude of cool reservation or a retreat from personal involvement [4][5][6]. This versatility allows authors to evoke both the concrete realities of military strategy and the more abstract notions of alienation or introspection, thereby enriching the texture of their works.
- In 1844, a detachment of the 84th regiment, under Lieut West.
— from Toronto of Old by Henry Scadding - His purpose was to make the enemy turn their attention to his detachment so that then the rest of the Romans might make their escape.
— from Dio's Rome, Volume 1 by Cassius Dio Cocceianus - So, too, it is better to recapture an army entire than to destroy it, to capture a regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to destroy them.
— from The Art of War by active 6th century B.C. Sunzi - But there was about him an abstraction, a sort of instrumental detachment from human things.
— from The Rainbow by D. H. Lawrence - I have a photograph in which that look of detachment has been caught and intensified.
— from The Country of the Blind, and Other Stories by H. G. Wells - Its Evangelicalism lacks the notes, so prominent in the gospel, of disillusion, humility, and speculative detachment.
— from The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress by George Santayana
