Literary notes about SEE (AI summary)
The word “see” carries a rich dual role in literature, functioning both as a marker of physical vision and a metaphor for understanding. Authors use it to describe the act of observing concrete objects or landscapes—such as the friendly summits observed in a distant view [1] or the single face that holds one’s entire attention [2]—while also employing it to suggest insight or realization, as when deeper cognitive or emotional truths are perceived [3] or even symbolically recognized in character judgments [4]. In some cases, “see” also serves as a signpost, urging readers to investigate further details or references to expand their understanding [5] [6].
- In the middle distance ahead of her she could see the summits of Bulbarrow and of Nettlecombe Tout, and they seemed friendly.
— from Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman by Thomas Hardy - But I held my tongue, quite dazed, and I could no longer see anything except her.
— from Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant - There is no such thing as an ability to see or hear or remember in general; there is only the ability to see or hear or remember something.
— from Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education by John Dewey - Penitence, humiliation, shame, pride, love, and trustfulness—I see them all; and in them all, I see that horror of I don’t know what.
— from David Copperfield by Charles Dickens - 77 Note 74 ( return ) [ On the subject of Ulphilas, and the conversion of the Goths, see Sozomen, l. vi. c. 37.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon - [493] See, for farther details, Hamilton's Reid, Appendices D** and D***; and L. Ferri, La Psychologie de l'Association (Paris, 1883).
— from The Principles of Psychology, Volume 1 (of 2) by William James
