Literary notes about Redeem (AI summary)
The term “redeem” assumes a multitude of nuanced meanings in literature, ranging from the sacred and salvific to the personal and transactional. In some texts it is employed with profound religious gravitas—as in prophecies of liberation from oppression ([1]) or the divine mandate to rescue souls ([2], [3])—while in others it embodies the notion of rectifying past mistakes or restoring honor, such as transforming one’s history into vindication ([4], [5], [6], [7]). Moreover, the word can take on a more pragmatic sense, referring to reclaiming what has been lost or mortgaged, whether it is land or property ([8], [9], [10]). In these varied contexts, “redeem” serves as a bridge between the ideal and the practical, encapsulating both the quest for moral restoration and the tangible act of retrieval, thereby demonstrating its enduring literary versatility.
- "It was prophesied in olden times that a person would arise and redeem Hindostan from 'the yoke of bondage.'
— from The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors; Or, Christianity Before Christ by Kersey Graves - and in mercy redeem the people of Israel.
— from Some Jewish Witnesses For Christ by Aaron Bernstein - Let Greece, redeem'd from this destructive strait, Do her own work; and leave the rest to fate.
— from The Iliad by Homer - I resolved in my future conduct to redeem the past; and I can say with honesty that my resolve was fruitful of some good.
— from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson - She determined to redeem her error so far as it might yet be possible.
— from The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne - Allow me to redeem my reputation in your eyes, allow me to tell you who I am.
— from Short Stories by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - "To redeem all the past, and to transform every 'it was' into 'thus would I have it'—that alone would be my salvation!"
— from Ecce Homo by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche - ‘If I can redeem it, or hope to do so, you know I will.’
— from Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens - The immigrants not being able to pay for the land, Mr. Fellows agreed to let them redeem it in ten annual installments.
— from A History of Norwegian Immigration to the United States by George T. Flom - He lost his money at chuck-farthing, shuffle-cap, and all-fours; sold his books, pawned his linen, which we were always forced to redeem.
— from The History of John Bull by John Arbuthnot
