Literary notes about Operator (AI summary)
The term “operator” in literature is used both in its literal sense to refer to individuals controlling machinery and systems and in more metaphorical ways to represent the agent who brings actions to fruition. In some works, the operator is depicted as a person adept at handling technical equipment—from someone crafting characters painstakingly on paper ([1]) to figures who manually connect telegraph lines or adjust intricate machinery ([2], [3]). Elsewhere, the term extends to symbolize individuals whose roles go beyond mere mechanical procedures, hinting at a broader authority or control over events, as when an operator shapes outcomes in strategic or artistic contexts ([4], [5]). This multifaceted application underscores the versatility of “operator” as a bridge between the concrete world of technical competence and the abstract dynamics of influence.
- a chord on the piano) the operator makes a character at a time in a sheet of thick paper, and can write about half as rapidly as on a typewriter.
— from The Story of My Life by Helen Keller - The telegraph operator of Winesburg, sitting in the darkness on the railroad ties, had become a poet.
— from Winesburg, Ohio: A Group of Tales of Ohio Small Town Life by Sherwood Anderson - One wire of each subscriber runs to a common "earth;" the other terminates at a switchboard presided over by an operator.
— from How it Works by Archibald Williams - The knife was of so queer a shape that no one but an operator could have calculated the angle that would reach his heart.
— from The innocence of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton - His eye became a degree less opaque: it was as though an incipient film had been removed from it, and she felt the pride of a skilful operator.
— from The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
