Literary notes about Inadequacy (AI summary)
Writers use "inadequacy" to underscore a variety of shortcomings, whether in language, character, or institutional systems. The term often captures the failure of words to express profound emotion or complex ideas, as when an author reflects on the pitiful inadequacy of language during moments of stress [1]. It also reveals a character’s internal struggle with feelings of deficiency or unworthiness, highlighting personal fragility in relationships or self-perception [2][3]. Moreover, "inadequacy" can comment on broader societal or systematic defects, pointing to the insufficiency of approaches or resources in critical endeavors [4][5]. This layered use deepens the reader’s understanding of both human and structural limitations throughout literature.
- " "Oh, thanks awfully," I said, realising as I said it the miserable inadequacy of the English language.
— from Love Among the Chickens by P. G. (Pelham Grenville) Wodehouse - It was the present that so weighed upon her, her lover's almost appalling intensity of worship and her own utter inadequacy and futility.
— from Greatheart by Ethel M. (Ethel May) Dell - I was torn, I had a miserable sense of inadequacy.
— from A Far Country — Complete by Winston Churchill - In writing it down I feel with only too much keenness the inadequacy of pen and ink—and, above all, my own inadequacy—to express its quality.
— from The Time Machine by H. G. Wells - The Vigilance Committee of California is but a mob, rendered necessary by the inadequacy of the regular government.
— from Cannibals all! or, Slaves without masters by George Fitzhugh
