Literary notes about Toward (AI summary)
In literature, the word "toward" serves as a flexible directional preposition that encompasses both literal and metaphorical meanings. It is employed to indicate physical movement, as seen when characters turn their gaze or stride in a certain direction—for example, a character moving toward a destination [1] or turning toward another person in a moment of confrontation [2]. At the same time, "toward" often conveys abstract progress or emotional orientation, such as advancing toward a goal or harboring a feeling, like the progress toward natural speech [3] or the subtle shift of sentiment toward another character [4]. This dual use enriches the narrative by making movements, attitudes, and shifts in direction vivid and dynamic within a story's unfolding events [5], [6].
- At any rate, I started off toward Covey’s, as directed by Sandy.
— from My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass - But he turned toward her, and raising his fist to strike her, he stammered out: “Oh—oh—this is too much, too much!
— from Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant - But for Miss Sullivan's genius, untiring perseverance and devotion, I could not have progressed as far as I have toward natural speech.
— from The Story of My Life by Helen Keller - But would he give her up, knowing–Philip felt the fact with heart-crushing despair–that she was made half helpless by her feeling toward him?
— from The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot - Toward evening on the second day, what does he do but blandly fetch out a dirk from inside his robe!
— from A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain - They passed over the pond toward Fair Haven, seemingly deterred from settling by my light, their commodore honking all the while with a regular beat.
— from Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau
