Literary notes about He (AI summary)
In literature, the pronoun “he” functions as a flexible narrative tool, embodying both action and character identity. It frequently introduces and centers male figures in diverse settings—from Shakespeare’s mythic and vigorous challenges [1] to the more earthy, vernacular charm of Twain’s rustic characters [2, 3]. “He” can denote heroic agency, as seen with the steadfast protagonists in Hugo’s or Tolstoy’s works [4, 5], while also carrying ambiguity or introspection when authors use it to hint at internal struggles or subtle narrative shifts [6, 7]. In historical, biblical, and poetic texts alike, “he” not only marks characters’ physical actions, as in Flavius Josephus’ terse statement [8] or the allegorical burnings in folk tales [9], but also bridges dialogue and description, lending a personal yet universal quality to the prose [10, 11]. This versatile use underscores its centrality in storytelling, where “he” helps readers navigate characters’ identities and the unfolding of intricate plots.
- You vile abominable tents, Thus proudly pight upon our Phrygian plains, Let Titan rise as early as he dare, I’ll through and through you.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare - I got the thing, and the first rat that showed his nose I let drive, and if he’d a stayed where he was he’d a been a tolerable sick rat.
— from Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain - He went a mooning around, first to one rat-hole and then another, till he’d been to them all.
— from Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain - He had trusty fellows, accomplices’ retreats in case of emergencies, in which he would, no doubt, take refuge.
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo - At first he saw nothing reprehensible in this, but in the second year of his marriage his view of that form of punishment suddenly changed.
— from War and Peace by graf Leo Tolstoy - “Whom do you mean by ‘he’?”
— from The Turn of the Screw by Henry James - He was troubled and did not attempt to conceal it.
— from Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - He Did In Judea. 1.
— from Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus - The Sun was very fond of his children, but whenever he tried to embrace any of them, he was so hot that he burned them up.
— from Philippine Folk Tales - He lifted his cap courteously, but he would have passed on in silence, if Anne had not stopped and held out her hand.
— from Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery - he cried to me in a thin, shrill voice.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov